Global food security concerns took centre stage at the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, highlighting a challenge Nigeria must confront at home: how to raise agricultural productivity, strengthen food supply chains and protect households from high food costs.

For FirstBank, the concerns reinforce the urgency of closing Nigeria’s agricultural financing gap, which continues to constrain farmers’ output, limit manufacturers’ access to raw materials and weaken the country’s capacity to meet domestic food demand while expanding agricultural exports.

The global discussions and the bank’s interventions point to the same underlying problem: food security depends not only on the availability of arable land and agricultural resources but also on the financing, infrastructure and supply chains needed to turn production potential into affordable food and reliable industrial inputs.

At the annual meetings, a session titled ‘Food Security in an Age of Shocks’ examined how governments could protect vulnerable households, improve support for those most affected by rising costs and maintain fiscal sustainability. The discussions underscored the need for food systems that can withstand economic disruptions and supply shocks.

For Nigeria, that resilience remains difficult to achieve. Limited access to affordable credit, low farm productivity, inadequate storage and expensive transportation continue to weaken the agricultural value chain, contributing to supply constraints and high food costs.

The pressure remains visible in inflation figures. National Bureau of Statistics data showed food inflation at 19.59 per cent year-on-year in September, marginally above 19.57 per cent in August. While the increase was slight, the figures underline the continuing strain on household budgets.

The challenge also featured prominently at FirstBank’s fifth Agric and Export Expo in Lagos, where stakeholders examined financing constraints, market access and shortages of agricultural raw materials. Figures presented at the event indicated that although about 78 per cent of farmers were financially included, only around two per cent of total agricultural loans reached farms.

The disparity exposes a critical weakness in the relationship between financial inclusion and food security. Having access to banking services does not necessarily mean farmers can obtain the affordable, long-term and working-capital financing required to buy inputs, acquire equipment, expand cultivation and sustain operations until harvest.

This is where the global concerns discussed in Bangkok intersect with FirstBank’s domestic intervention. Strengthening food security requires more than emergency support for vulnerable households; it also requires investment in the productive capacity of farmers, processors and distributors to ensure that food supplies can expand sustainably.

FirstBank’s partnership with the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and Sapphital Limited, signed at the expo, seeks to expand trade finance, improve collaboration across agricultural value chains and support non-oil exports. The initiative could help connect producers to processing and export markets, although its wider contribution to food security will depend on how much additional financing reaches businesses and translates into higher output, reduced losses and more reliable supplies.

The stakes extend beyond farmers. Nigeria’s domestic industries also compete for agricultural commodities that remain in short supply. At the expo, the Managing Director of Amo Byng Nigeria Limited, Agboola Zubayr Belgore, said the country produced between one million and 1.3 million tonnes of soybeans annually, against demand of about two million tonnes. He warned that growing overseas demand for Nigerian non-genetically modified soybeans could put additional pressure on prices for domestic livestock-feed producers.

The shortfall illustrates the tension between expanding agricultural exports and meeting domestic requirements. Export opportunities can generate foreign exchange and create markets for farmers, but without a corresponding increase in production, overseas demand could intensify competition for raw materials and raise costs for local manufacturers.

Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Greenview Fertiliser Corporation, Vishwajit Sinha, said Nigeria’s fertiliser use stood at about 15 kilogrammes per hectare, against the ECOWAS target of 50 kilogrammes. He put yields for major crops at between 20 and 25 per cent of comparable global levels and estimated post-harvest losses at 40–50 per cent because of poor roads, inadequate storage and logistics challenges.

These constraints show why agricultural financing must extend beyond farm production to storage, processing, transportation and distribution. Without investment across the value chain, higher output may not translate into more affordable food or a dependable supply of raw materials.

Nigeria’s dependence on imported food further illustrates the opportunity. At a similar FirstBank event last year, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, represented by his Special Adviser on Technical Affairs, Ibrahim Alkali, said the country spent more than $10 billion annually on food imports, including wheat, rice, sugar, fish and tomato paste.

Capturing more of this market requires access to credit, suitable inputs, irrigation, mechanisation and infrastructure that links farms to consumers and manufacturers. These are also the foundations of export competitiveness, where buyers demand consistent volumes, acceptable quality and timely delivery.

Ultimately, the concerns raised at the IMF–World Bank annual meetings give greater urgency to the financing and supply-chain issues FirstBank is seeking to address. The test is whether initiatives such as its partnership with NEXIM and Sapphital can mobilise sufficient capital to raise production, reduce post-harvest losses and strengthen local processing.

For Nigeria, food security and agricultural export growth will remain difficult to achieve without closing the gap between what farmers produce, what industries require and what households can afford. FirstBank’s intervention offers one private-sector response, the sort needed to close the financing gap and stimulate broader call-to-action.