Banking and development finance expert Afolasade Onifade argues that Nigeria’s agricultural underperformance stems from a broken financial system rather than land or capacity constraints. With smallholder credit consistently hovering at only 4 to 5 percent of total private-sector lending, the sector faces a massive funding gap that traditional government interventions have failed to bridge sustainably. Onifade proposes transitioning from ad-hoc subsidies, like the previous Anchor Borrowers Programme, toward durable, institution-led models. These include borrower-owned cooperatives, data-driven credit scoring, and secondary markets that can leverage digital footprints to de-risk lending and attract private institutional capital.