The Federal Government has launched the Sustainable Integrated Productive Communities, a wide-ranging initiative designed to integrate mass housing, agriculture, renewable energy and enterprise development into a single development framework, with the first pilot project scheduled to begin in Niger State.

The initiative is aimed at tackling food security challenges, expanding access to affordable housing, promoting rural stability and creating sustainable jobs across participating communities.

Under the programme, the Federal Ministry of Finance will serve as the anchor institution, while interested states are expected to opt into the initiative. The Ministry of Finance Incorporated will provide strategic asset optimisation and private capital mobilisation support to drive implementation.

Speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Niger State Government on Friday, the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, described the agreement as a major milestone in translating policy objectives into measurable action.

Uzoka-Anite said, “This is a powerful demonstration of cooperative federalism, strategic alignment, and shared commitment to inclusive economic development, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” while emphasising that the SIPC programme connects national priorities with tangible outcomes.

She added that by anchoring farmers in secure and well-planned communities, the government was not merely building houses but “strengthening livelihoods, food security, and long-term prosperity.”

Outlining the objectives of the pilot phase, the minister said Niger State would host integrated farming and housing estates strategically located close to production zones, storage facilities, processing centres and markets.

“Simply put, when farmers are properly settled, agriculture becomes more efficient, more attractive, and more profitable,” she said.

Uzoka-Anite stressed that the programme adopts an innovative financing model that blends public assets with private investment, enabling the government to focus on policy direction and oversight while harnessing private-sector efficiency.

She explained that renewable energy solutions, including solar-powered community infrastructure and mini-grids to be provided primarily by the Rural Electrification Agency, would support agro-processing, storage and household energy needs, reduce costs and enhance productivity.

According to her, “The mass housing and settlement project will stimulate broad-based economic activity. It will create jobs for engineers, builders, artisans, suppliers, and service providers. It will support local industries such as cement, steel, agro-processing, logistics, and transportation. It will strengthen rural economies and contribute meaningfully to the state’s internally generated revenue.”

The minister invited developers, pension funds, real estate firms and agribusiness investors to see the SIPC model as scalable and replicable across the country.

She said, “Through this partnership, we are not just building houses, we are creating stable farming communities, strengthening food security, and laying the foundation for sustained prosperity in Niger State.”

In his remarks, Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, affirmed the state’s full commitment to the initiative.

He pledged that his administration would provide 100,000 hectares of land for the pilot project, with certificates of occupancy to be handed over to the Federal Government on Monday. “What is fundamental is the fact that we will be building mass houses within farming communities so farmers can settle and focus on their productive activities,” Bago said.

The governor said clustering farmers into well-planned settlements would address long-standing challenges such as insecurity, rural-urban migration, weak infrastructure, post-harvest losses and youth disengagement from agriculture.

Bago highlighted Niger State’s agricultural strengths, including its mechanised farming capacity and access to hydropower dams for irrigation, describing them as critical enablers of the SIPC project.

He also noted the potential for broader economic integration, including the development of farm estates along a proposed rail corridor linking Abuja to Minna, as well as the creation of grazing reserves to reduce farmer-herder conflicts.

“This initiative will address shelter, security of life and property, food security, and sustainable livelihoods at the same time,” he said, adding that the project would demonstrate “what a farmer governor and a farmer minister of finance can do when housing, agriculture, and finance move together.”

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Armstrong Takang, commended the leadership of Uzoka-Anite and Bago, noting that the project illustrated how governance could be delivered sustainably at the grassroots level.

Takang said, “We are taking governance to local communities, and empowering those local communities in a very sustainable manner.”

He explained that MOFI would leverage public assets to attract private capital while ensuring transparency, shared risk and measurable outcomes, adding that each home constructed under the programme would generate at least 12 full-time jobs, alongside additional employment in agriculture, agro-processing, logistics and related services.

Key federal agencies participating in the SIPC initiative include Family Homes Funds Limited, the Rural Electrification Agency and Niger Foods Limited, each providing sector-specific expertise in housing delivery, renewable energy solutions and agricultural value chain development.

Together, the agencies aim to establish functional and affordable settlements equipped with essential infrastructure such as roads, water supply, sanitation systems, schools and health facilities.