Hossain, IshratMuhammad, Aliyu DahiruJibril, Binta TijjaniKaitibie, Simeon2026-03-192026-03-1920192026Hossain, I., Muhammad, A. D., Jibril, B. T., & Kaitibie, S. (2019). Support for smallholder farmers through Islamic instruments: The case of Bangladesh and lessons for Nigeria. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 12(2), 154–168.10.1108/IMEFM-11-2018-0371https://repository.iou.edu.gm/handle/123456789/297Islamic social finance is an emerging area of study and practice, distinct from commercial finance. It focuses on financing members of a community or country to support socio-economic development. However, it faces challenges related to sustainability, arising either from legal and regulatory frameworks or from a lack of awareness among members of society. The history of Islamic social finance in Nigeria can be traced back to the revival of Islam led by Shehu Uthman Bin Fodio in 1804. In recent years, the establishment of the Zakat and Endowment Committee in Sokoto in 2007 marked a renewed awareness and practice of Islamic social finance. This was further strengthened in 2016 when the government transformed the Committee into a Commission, granting it greater independence to initiate and implement its policies. This paper aims to examine two recently implemented projects, namely the Youth and Women Empowerment programs. The study adopts a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis. Two focus group sessions were conducted with youth and women entrepreneurs who benefited from the empowerment programs implemented by the SZEC. The findings reveal that youth participants have been able to harness their potential by expanding their businesses and improving the quality of their products and services, such as shoe repair, as a result of the skills acquired through training. Similarly, women participants have significantly improved their welfare and that of their children. They have also been able to sustain their businesses as reliable sources of income. However, participants identified the marketing of their finished products as the main challenge they continue to face.Purpose – In societies with strong presence of Islam, Islamic instruments with more scope for fairness and equity can be innovatively harnessed to play an increasing role in the development process and poverty alleviation schemes. Poor smallholder farmers dominate agricultural production in many developing countries and contribute a significant portion of global food production. This paper aims to develop a scheme to improve poor smallholder farmers’ vulnerable financial situation through the application of Zakah and Salam contract, using Bangladesh as a case study. Secondary goals are to show the effect of the scheme on food security and relevance to Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – The authors explore the existing traditional modes of financing available to poor smallholders, identify their challenges and propose an appropriate Islamic financing scheme. Findings – With the Zakah-based Salam forward contract, the proposed scheme would procure food through Institutional Demand to offer interest free financing, fair price and access to new marketing channels and reduce income uncertainty for the rural smallholders. The discussions indicate that the local food security will be enhanced through incentivized farming activities and disbursement of food from the food bank to the Zakah-eligible food insecure local people. Research limitations/implications – This proposal brings forth a potentially powerful idea that needs further empirical validation. Originality/value – The religion-based Institutional Demand initiative to promote smallholder agricultural development and social protection is a novel one. The attempt to apply the framework to Nigeria context shows the potential of the framework to generalize for other Muslim developing countries with similar characteristics, especially the poorer agriculture-based countries.enSmallholder farmersIslamic instrumentsBangladeshNigeriaZakahSalamArticle