Despite its enviable position as one of the leading agriculture countries in Africa and beyond, Nigeria has failed to translate this to any meaningful result over the years.

Past efforts by successive administrations to put the sector in its pride of place and make the country food-sufficient appears to be in limbo as most of the government policies are not yielding desired results. Allegedly, the lean harvest is attributed to insincerity of the handlers or the will-power to drive such policies to transform the sector.

Of great concern is the fact that 66 years after independence, the country is still food dependent, relying on food and agro produce import from other countries to fill the huge food deficit.

Aside being the top contributor of cassava, yams and other tuber crops all over the world, Nigeria is a major producer of fruits such as mangoes, oranges, pineapples, and other cash crops like cocoa, cashew and many more, indicating that the country’s agricultural strength is apparent, yet the country’s import bill keeps increasing by the day.

The last administration of the late Mohammadu Buhari was determined to change the narratives, especially with the introduction of the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), but the initiative yielded little or no result as what many considered as a laudable scheme was jeopardised due to mismanagement of the funds.

Again, the current administration took a drastic move to ‘rescue’ the sector but for the third year running, despite the promises, hypes and policies to transform the sector, to attain its food sufficiency dream, stakeholders say the sector has seen little or no impact.

For instance, in his second month in office, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency to tackle rising food prices and shortages. Some of the initiatives include using money saved from the fuel subsidy removal to provide fertiliser and grain to farmers. Several other policies were also introduced but they were more in paper than being actualised.

Rather than abating, the situation hasn’t improved, as the policies haven’t achieved much impact. The last three years have seen more food shortage leading to further increase in the prices of food commodities. The country’s inflation rate too have been fluctuating, compounding the woes of Nigerians as food prices and basic commodities have gone through the roof with more Nigerians struggling with high cost of living.

Currently, based on feelers from Abuja, there’s absolutely nothing happening from the coffers of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, as majority of the policies rolled out by the current administration have remained in papers, with little or no actualisation of these policies.

Sadly, despite the efforts of those who were struggling to farm at all cost and reduced food prices, these also failed to translate into better access to food, as low incomes and high unemployment continue to drive hunger, as many lack the purchasing power to afford available food.
 
Experts explained that structural and economic challenges, such as high production and processing costs, poor logistics, expensive transportation and exchange rate depreciation, have contributed to high food prices, creating the disconnect between increased food imports and access.

This unfortunate experience seems a confirmation to the prediction of the Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that projected that about 34.7 million Nigerians may face hunger between June and August this year, if timely interventions were not implemented to address the rising food security challenges.

The organisation, in its October 2025 Cadre Harmonisé analysis, stated that the worsening hunger and food insecurity situation in the country was driven by persistent conflicts and violence in some of the states known for food production, economic shocks, armed violence, organised crimes, particularly in the North-West and North-East, and climate-related shocks like prolonged dry spells and floods in some communities.

Sadly, true to its projection, the country is currently struggling to address this lingering food insecurity.

The Founder of Menitos Farm Depot, Lagos, Toluwalope Daramola, who frowns on the state of the sector, attributed most of the challenges to the problem of food production and supply.

“At 66, the bigger question is: are we building an agricultural economy owned and driven by Nigerians, or are we gradually surrendering control of our food system to those with the capital to control production and supply? Food security is not only about having food available. It is also about who produces it, who controls the land, inputs and infrastructure required for production, and who ultimately controls what Nigerians put on their tables.

“The solution is not to discourage private investment or large-scale agriculture. Rather, our policies should ensure that investment strengthens local capacity instead of replacing it. Large agricultural companies should be encouraged to build partnerships with smallholder farmers, support local sourcing, create processing opportunities and transfer knowledge and technology into the communities where they operate.

“Government also needs to make it easier for Nigerians to become producers. This means improving access to land, affordable credit, quality seeds and other inputs, irrigation, machinery and reliable energy.

We also need to invest heavily in storage, transportation and processing so that farmers are not forced to sell cheaply immediately after harvest simply because they lack the capacity to preserve or process their produce,” she said.

Daramola stressed the need to move from an agricultural economy that largely rewards the movement of raw products to one that rewards production, processing and value addition within Nigeria. She added that a farmer should be able to produce, a processor should be able to transform that produce, and a Nigerian business should be able to take the finished product to local and international markets.

“Our goal should therefore be an agricultural economy where Nigerian farmers, processors, entrepreneurs and communities are not merely participants in the value chain, but owners of a meaningful share of it. If we get this right, agriculture can do more than feed Nigeria. It can create jobs, build industries, retain wealth within our communities and strengthen our economic independence.

“At 66, the real measure of agricultural independence is not simply how much food we can import or how much investment we attract, but how much of the food system Nigerians themselves have the capacity and opportunity to own, produce and control,” Daramola stated.

On his part, the CEO, Feat Agro Limited, Rev Niyi Egbe, formerly Senior Agricultural Officer, NYSC, Pioneer Agric Editor, ThisDay Newspapers, “If we add value to our agro products, at least, semi-processing of some of these agricultural produce like cocoa and others, we can derive a lot of value from them. We are not really up there. We can only pray that our policy leaders can have direction, such that inputs will trickle down to farmers. They should also fund agricultural cooperatives and ensure that target of food sufficiency is achieved.”