Federal Government has charged the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to adopt innovative financing mechanisms and blended finance arrangements to reduce risks associated with agricultural lending and expand access to credit. Also speaking, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, described BOA as a strategic institution in the transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural sector. He said the government was repositioning agriculture beyond food production to serve as a driver of food security, economic diversification, employment generation and industrialisation. In his remarks, the Chairman of the BOA Board, Muhammad Babangida, said the bank occupied a strategic position in Nigeria’s economic development. Babangida said the effectiveness of the institution had direct implications for farmers, agribusinesses, rural communities, food production, employment and national food security.