As farmers continue to lament persisting insecurity, limited finance, and poor infrastructure, agricultural experts have called on the government to regulate commodity market intermediaries to curb hoarding.
In this regard, the Federal Government disclosed that it would soon introduce a Guaranteed Minimum Price for agricultural produce for farmers and undertake large-scale offtake of farm harvests.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who announced this at a breakout session on “Catalysing Agricultural Transformation: Capital, Innovation and Growth”, at the ongoing Nigeria Economic Summit, said the measure aims to protect farmers and consumers amid price volatility. “We’re looking at how to balance the citizens’ welfare, and also farmers welfare”, he said.
The minister maintained that the move followed lessons from the previous year’s food price volatility and hoarding by commodity dealers, which worsened inflation and triggered widespread hunger protests in August, 2024. “There was massive hoarding aspect, and there was a farmer, who said he would not sell his maize until the price gets to N150,000, but today, he’s begging to sell at N30,000″, Kyari said.
He also cited last year’s paddy rice market as an example, when farmers sold at N350,000 per tonne while market prices climbed to N800,000, highlighting inefficiencies between production costs and retail prices. “There was clearly a dislocation somewhere”, he said.
The minister added that government’s interventions also include a 150-day window to release stored commodities, which were among measures introduced to ease supply shortages.
Kyari also said the government was revamping financing mechanisms for smallholder farmers, who form the bulk of Nigeria’s producers, but lack access to capital and modern equipment, disclosing that President Bola Tinubu had approved the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture.
He said the government intends to support smallholder farmers to become largeholder farmers, and is currently developing a national register of smallholder farmers, adding that soil mapping was underway in partnership with private firms to improve fertilizer formulation and crop yields, while decrying the rising cost of fertilizer from about ₦35,000 to as high as ₦60,000, blaming it on supply bottlenecks and limited port capacity.
He also cited government’s collaboration with the Renewable Infrastructure Fund to address logistics constraints and exploring the use of local potash deposits to reduce import dependence, while acknowledging that insecurity, inadequate infrastructure and limited financing remain key barriers to productivity, but expressed optimism that ongoing reforms and investments would strengthen Nigeria’s food system.
The minister further informed that preliminary findings from the 2025 National Agricultural Development (NAD) indicate that the country recorded higher harvest this year than in 2024, suggesting that Nigeria is on the right trajectory despite ongoing challenges.
At the session, an entrepreneur, Segun Adaju, decried the worsening insecurity that had forced many farmers like himself to abandon their farmlands, saying bandits are the problem, as they are tired of paying ransom money.
For the Co-Founder of Ocattu Nigeria, Okeke Chukwujekwu, inadequate infrastructure remains a major problem, saying the lack of access roads to farms is discouraging young people from engaging in agriculture, as he urged for greater collaboration among all tiers of government.
On his part, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Cam Diary Foods Limited, Aisha Bashir, lamented lack of access to finance, including loans from banks, which she said, had severely affected the survival of her business, while the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe, acknowledged that while insecurity continues to hamper productivity, Nigeria still has enormous potential to expand output, pointing out that the country has between 35 and 37 million hectares of arable land, when compared to The Netherlands with only two million hectares, yet the latter maintains a thriving agricultural industry. “As we deal with insecurity, the places we can secure can help quadrupple production”, he said.
Ibekwe further called for the regulation of intermediaries in the commodity market to curb distortions and improve transparency, warning that without oversight of large-scale buyers, the government would remain reactive, by intervening only after market disruptions occur. “That area is completely unregulated, and it is a huge area in the ecosystem. Otherwise, the government will continue to scamper and look for warehouses to break in”, he said.
Active journalism costs huge sums of money. To ensure quality and rich agricultural journalism, the support of readers and friends of the publication is required. Donations can be made in Nigerian Naira (NGN). Kindly provide relevant information during transactions and be assured that funds received will be used judiciously and appropriately. For donation to FarmingFarmersFarms, kindly click the link below, call or send message to: +2348095451987.