The All Farmers Affiliation of Nigeria (AFAN) has known as for extra funding in garage, processing, transportation and marketplace get admission to to cut back Nigeria’s dependence on imported meals.
The crowd spoke the day prior to this as Nigeria joined the remainder of the sector to mark the 2026 International Meals Day, themed “Innovate As of late. Nourish The next day.”
AFAN’s deputy nationwide president, Daniel Okafor, mentioned governments, traders and different stakeholders must reconsider their way and prioritise all the agricultural worth chain, no longer simply manufacturing.
Bringing up Africa’s reported annual meals import invoice of greater than $100 billion, Okafor argued that upper farm output on my own would no longer ensure meals safety if farmers lacked the amenities and marketplace hyperlinks to maintain, procedure and promote their produce profitably.
“For too lengthy, farmers have confronted demanding situations with insufficient garage amenities, restricted processing capability, deficient logistics, limited get admission to to finance and susceptible connections to winning markets,” he mentioned.
He mentioned those gaps regularly pressure farmers to promote at low costs, whilst customers proceed to pay prime costs for meals and the continent spends massive sums uploading it.
Mounting drive on meals gadget from lack of confidence, prime agricultural manufacturing prices, financial shocks and dependence on imported meals nonetheless push thousands and thousands into acute starvation and threatens meals safety.
The demanding situations persist in spite of the government’s declaration of a state of emergency on meals safety in 2023 and next interventions aimed toward expanding home manufacturing, making improvements to meals availability and stabilising costs.
In puts just like the north-east, north-central and different puts the place extended struggle, displacement and disruptions to farming and buying and selling actions have weakened livelihoods, families’ skill to supply or acquire good enough meals have declined.
The most recent Cadre Harmonisé meals safety research estimated that 36.3 million Nigerians have confronted acute meals lack of confidence at disaster degree or worse between June and August 2026 because of lack of confidence, financial shocks, prime meals costs and climate-related disruptions.
Talking at the instance of International Meals Day, the minister of state for agriculture and meals safety, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, mentioned the federal government used to be pursuing a complete approach to building up manufacturing, scale back post-harvest losses and support agricultural worth chains.
The minister mentioned further staff from the army, Nigeria Safety and Civil Defence Corps and agro-rangers have been being deployed to give protection to farmlands, along enhanced cooperation between safety businesses and farming communities.
In keeping with him, agriculture additionally recorded 4.39 consistent with cent enlargement in the second one quarter of 2026, whilst crop manufacturing expanded by way of 3.66 consistent with cent, mentioning Nationwide Bureau of Statistics figures.
Abdullahi mentioned the Nationwide Agricultural Enlargement Scheme and Agro-Pocket programme had supported smallholder farmers to supply 2.5 million metric tonnes of staple meals over 4 farming seasons.
He additionally put Nigeria’s annual home wheat manufacturing at roughly 420,000 metric tonnes, in comparison with a prior baseline of 120,000 tonnes.
“We’re imposing a complete option to grow to be Nigeria’s agricultural sector right into a productive, resilient, aggressive and investment-driven sector able to feeding our inhabitants and contributing considerably to financial enlargement”, the minister mentioned.
By contrast, Nigeria’s dependence on imported meals has added every other measurement to the problem.
In keeping with record from america Division of Agriculture and International Grains, Nigeria imported 10.1 million tonnes of grain within the 2025/2026 advertising yr.
Wheat imports accounted for six.7 million tonnes, up from 6.25 million tonnes within the earlier yr, whilst rice imports stood at 3.2 million tonnes. Maize imports additionally rose to 260,000 tonnes from between 125,000 and 135,000 tonnes in earlier sessions.
Central Financial institution of Nigeria information additionally confirmed that the rustic spent $2.34 billion on meals imports in 2025. In the meantime, Nationwide Bureau of Statistics figures confirmed that Nigeria’s imports of meals and drinks higher from N6.58 trillion in 2024 to N7.65 trillion in 2025, representing an building up of N1.07 trillion, or 16.34 consistent with cent.
FAO, farmers name for sensible innovation
The Meals and Agriculture Group of the United Countries (FAO) has known as for higher funding in agricultural innovation and climate-resilient farming to spice up meals manufacturing, scale back rural poverty and enhance Nigerians’ get admission to to secure, nutritious and reasonably priced meals.
FAO mentioned remodeling Nigeria’s agrifood methods will require scaling up confirmed agricultural answers, strengthening partnerships and making sure that farmers and different meals manufacturers have get admission to to the applied sciences, financing and sources had to enhance productiveness.
FAO maintained that reaching sustainable meals methods would rely no longer best on creating new answers but additionally on making sure that current and rising inventions reached the folk chargeable for generating, processing and distributing meals.
FAO Consultant in Nigeria and to the Financial Group of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr Hussein Gadain, mentioned innovation should ship tangible enhancements in livelihoods, meals manufacturing and vitamin, in particular for prone communities.
Gadain mentioned: “Each and every innovation starts with wisdom, and each harvest starts with a hand. By means of making an investment in other people, fostering innovation and strengthening partnerships, we will construct resilient agrifood methods, enhance vitamin and make sure that no Nigerian is left in the back of.”
He added: “Lifestyles-changing innovation delivers its biggest affect when it reaches the individuals who want it maximum. Partnerships and funding should due to this fact lend a hand transfer confirmed answers from concepts into the palms of manufacturers and communities.”
Representing the FAO consultant in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Jimmy Owani, mentioned the problem used to be no longer merely to supply extra meals however to make sure that meals used to be obtainable, reasonably priced, nutritious and sustainably produced.
He known as for more potent partnerships amongst governments, researchers, farmers, monetary establishments, the non-public sector and building companions to translate agricultural inventions into measurable enhancements in family meals safety.
“For odd Nigerians, meals safety approach one thing easy and sensible: having enough, secure and nutritious meals at the desk each day at a worth they are able to manage to pay for.
For a mom in Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Enugu, Jos or another group around the nation, innovation approach lowering the price of generating, transporting, processing and advertising meals in order that wholesome diets turn out to be extra reasonably priced and obtainable for her circle of relatives.
The central message of International Meals Day 2026 is that innovation delivers its biggest affect when it reaches the individuals who want it maximum.The advantages of innovation should no longer stay confined to laboratories, analysis establishments or coverage discussions.
In the meantime, the All Farmers Affiliation of Nigeria (AFAN) has known as for higher funding in agricultural processing, garage, transportation and marketplace get admission to to cut back dependence on imported meals and support native meals methods.
Talking at the import invoice, the deputy nationwide president of AFAN, Daniel Okafor mentioned governments, traders and different agricultural stakeholders must reconsider their option to meals manufacturing and prioritise all the agricultural worth chain.
Bringing up Africa’s reported annual meals import invoice of greater than $100 billion, the farmers chief argued that expanding farm output on my own would no longer ensure meals safety if farmers lacked the amenities and marketplace connections had to maintain, procedure and promote their produce profitably.
He mentioned, “For too lengthy, farmers have confronted demanding situations with insufficient garage amenities, restricted processing capability, deficient logistics, limited get admission to to finance and susceptible connections to winning markets.
Those demanding situations regularly pressure farmers to promote their produce at low costs, whilst customers proceed to stand prime meals costs and the continent spends massive sources uploading meals”.
In keeping with Okafor, insufficient garage, restricted processing capability, deficient logistics, limited get admission to to finance and susceptible hyperlinks to winning markets regularly pressure farmers to promote their produce at low costs, whilst customers proceed to pay prime costs for meals.
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