Nigeria@65: Africa’s ‘giant’ yet to conquer hunger

By Chinyere Anyanwu

Nigeria is regarded across many climes as the giant of Africa, due to its large population and vast mineral wealth.

But that honour is being fiercely contested because despite its enviable endowment, the country cannot feed its citizens, 65 years after independence.

Millions of families go to bed hungry, malnutrition is ravaging various parts of the country and majority of the citizens are wallowing in multidimensional poverty.

Ironically, smaller African nations with less natural resources have substantially addressed their food insufficiency nightmare, while Nigeria’s food security project remains more verbal than practical.

Obstacles on Nigeria’s path to food sufficiency are; unbriddled corruption, growing insecurity, outdated infrastructure, poor funding for farmers, addiction to crude oil and perennial neglect of the agricultural industry.

With these scathing realities, food availability, accessibility and affordability are still a mirage to the average citizen while the country’s current annual food import bill stands at over $10 billion.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, during a stakeholders’ event in August 2025.

Agric as economic pillar of yesterday

When Nigeria gained independence in 1960, agriculture stood tall as the backbone of the economy. The sector contributed more than 60% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employed the majority of Nigerians and served as the country’s main foreign exchange earner. From cocoa in the West, groundnut pyramids in the North, palm produce in the East, to rubber and cotton across the South, Nigeria’s agricultural landscape was both diverse and globally competitive.

Back then, Nigeria was self-sufficient in food production and an exporter of cash crops. The Western region’s cocoa boom, Northern Nigeria’s groundnut pyramids, and the oil palm belt of the East placed the country among the world’s leading exporters. Agriculture not only fed the population but also financed education, infrastructure, and industrial take-off plans.

The oil boom distraction

The discovery and subsequent boom of crude oil in the late 1960s and 1970s changed the story. Agriculture, once the pride of the nation, was relegated to the background. Oil wealth shifted government focus away from farming, leading to neglect of rural infrastructure, agricultural research, and extension services. Farmers who once relied on supportive policies were left to toil with outdated tools and poor access to markets.

The neglect had severe consequences. Nigeria, once a food-exporting nation, became increasingly dependent on imports to feed its growing population. Staple foods like rice and wheat were imported in large quantities, draining foreign exchange. Food security weakened, and the rural economy, home to millions of smallholder farmers, suffered from underinvestment.

However, in the 1980s, Nigeria attempted to reverse the decline through several policy frameworks. The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced under military rule emphasized the need to diversify the economy away from oil and reinvest in agriculture. The period saw the establishment of River Basin Development Authorities, fertilizer subsidy programs, and efforts to mechanize farming.

However, corruption, poor policy continuity, and mismanagement of resources meant that these interventions rarely achieved their full potential. While certain programs like Operation Feed the Nation (1976) and the Green Revolution (1980) created awareness, they lacked sustainability.

Return to democracy and renewed Focus

The return to civilian rule in 1999 renewed hopes for agricultural revival. Governments launched initiatives to improve food production, such as the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) under President Goodluck Jonathan, which promoted cassava, rice, and fish farming.

The ATA particularly focused on value chains, improving access to fertilizers through the Growth Enhancement Scheme, and encouraging private sector participation. Some progress was recorded, especially in rice production, with states like Kebbi, Ebonyi, and Kano becoming hubs.

Persistent challenges

Despite these efforts, Nigeria’s agriculture sector continues to face daunting challenges. Land tenure insecurity discourages long-term investment. Most farmers still rely on rain-fed agriculture, making production highly vulnerable to climate change. Access to credit remains a major barrier, with many smallholder farmers unable to secure financing.

Post-harvest losses, estimated at 30–40% of output, remain a significant issue due to poor storage, weak transportation networks, and limited processing facilities. Insecurity, particularly in the North, has disrupted farming communities, displacing millions and reducing output.

Nigeria’s rising population, now over 220 million, has further intensified pressure on food demand, widening the gap between production and consumption. The result is persistent food inflation, with prices of staples like rice, beans, and maize climbing beyond the reach of many households.

The incumbent administration of President Bola Tinubu has placed emphasis on food security, declaring a state of emergency on agriculture. Initiatives are being rolled out to boost mechanization, support irrigation projects, and reduce dependence on imports. There is also increased investment in agribusiness, with young entrepreneurs venturing into crop processing, poultry, aquaculture, and agro-tech.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) also presents opportunities for Nigeria to reclaim its agricultural export position, but this will require competitiveness, quality assurance, and infrastructure upgrades.

Commenting on Nigeria’s agric sector, Dr. Ekenechukwu Aloefuna, the Team Lead of Agricultural Commodity Valuechain Expansion Project, said the lack of proper and sustainable private sector engagement, which he described as key to the future of Nigeria’s agricultural sector and a secure food system, is hampering efforts to attain food security.

Aloefuna, who noted that “the next frontier of agriculture is not in the hands of government but in hands of private sector players,” said, “I do not want to keep focusing on what government has done that has failed but their rules are clear and that rule of engagement for government is policy and advocacy and creation of enabling environment. They have done that and the rest is open for the private sector to look at how to invest. So for us, we want to believe that the era of agriculture is really yet to come until you find private sector players taking billions of their investments into agriculture.” Insisting that only the private sector can make agriculture prosper, he said “agriculture is what is holding the manufacturing sector. That manufacturing and industrialisation are not growing in Nigeria is because our agriculture is yet to be faced squarely.”

Insecurity, aggravated by the incessant attacks on farmlands and killing of farmers by bandits and Fulani herders across the country, has in no small measure, contributed to the backwardness of Nigeria’s agricultural sector and food system. Over two decades of these attacks has left the country with a death toll of over 70,000 people, over 2.2 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and burnt farmlands and crops, according to research reports.

The situation has turned agricultural practice into an endangered venture as survivors of these attacks fear to engage in farming activities. The areas worst hit are the food basket states of the country, including Benue, Zamfara, Taraba, Plateau, Borno, Adamawa, Niger, Kaduna, Edo, Ebonyi, Anambra, Ondo, Abia, Ekiti, Kaduna and Nasarawa.

Climate change with resultant heavy flooding of farms has wreaked untold havoc on the agricultural sector in recent times. A most recent case, among many others, is that of the Ikorodu area of Lagos State where flood washed away fish farms valued at over N150 million in August.

The nation’s agricultural sector and food system, in addition, have suffered and are still suffering setbacks owing to the inability of farmers to access funds, inputs and equipment. Efforts of the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu to mechanise agriculture are yet minimal as it has been able to acquire 2,000 tractors, which were officially launched in June. According to records, Nigeria previously had 7,000 functional tractors. When added to the 2,000 newly acquired tractors, the country has 9,000 functional tractors. With about 40 million farmers, the ratio of farmers to one tractor is approximately 4,444. With the above figures, the dream of launching the country into modern mechanised agriculture seems unrealistic.

In a major move to bring some sanity to the country’s food system, President Tinubu, on September 11, ordered a Federal Executive Council (FEC) committee to further crash the prices of food items across the country.

He urged stakeholders to see the move as a “supportive measure to stabilise the market and secure a steady food supply, rather than an abrupt price crash that threatens producers’ capacity for future production.

“The government emphasises a balanced approach to food price management, ensuring affordability for consumers while safeguarding farmers’ interests for continued agricultural growth and food security in Nigeria. This assurance is aimed at allaying fears among corn companies and other agricultural producers who play a key role in the country’s food supply chain.”

The stakeholders, however, called on the president to purchase farm produce from them and crash the prices for sale to Nigerians as they fear not being able to buy seeds and other inputs for subsequent production if they sell at reduced prices.

They called on the government to provide enough and affordable inputs for farmers, saying “if this is done, farmers will not sell the produce at exorbitant prices.”

Assessing Nigeria’s agricultural sector and food system in the last 65 years, Chi Tola Roberts, Managing Director, Capacious Farms and Foods (CFF), said Nigeria’s agriculture is standing at the crossroads of low yields, high losses and unrealised potential and the possibility of a modern, market-driven agribusiness sector that will not only feed the nation but also power its economy.

Regarding Nigeria’s agriculture as a sleeping giant at the crossroads of transformation, Roberts noted that despite “the sector’s contribution to non-oil exports which is boosting Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings at a time of significant economic pressure, it is still faced with persistent structural weaknesses.”

Listing steps to unlocking the sector’s immense potential and transforming it into a major sustainer of the economy, the CFF boss said, “Nigeria must embrace a deliberate productivity agenda. Smart, technology-driven input support programmes (using digital vouchers for seeds and fertilisers) can help farmers access what they need while minimising leakages. Mechanisation should shift from government-owned fleets to private service providers who lease equipment to farmers at affordable rates, a model already being piloted through a $1 billion Nigeria–Brazil partnership.

“Agribusiness needs to move closer to the farm. Establishing agro-processing zones (complete with feeder roads, electricity and storage) will reduce post-harvest losses, increase value addition and create jobs across the value chain. Encouraging contract farming and stronger off-take agreements between processors and farmer cooperatives will ensure supply consistency while giving farmers access to credit and guaranteed markets.”

She further said, “finance and risk-sharing mechanisms must evolve. Blended finance windows, warehouse receipt systems and climate index insurance can make agricultural lending less risky and more attractive to commercial banks. This is where development partners and DFIs such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the IFC have already begun playing catalytic roles.

“Also, Nigeria needs to strengthen its capacity for exports. Meeting international standards through better grading, packaging and traceability systems will open up premium markets for Nigerian cocoa, cashew, sesame and other high-value crops. With stronger quality assurance infrastructure, Nigerian products can move from bulk commodities to branded, value-added goods that capture higher margins. With the right policies, partnerships and investments, agriculture can move from being a safety net for the poor to being the engine that drives Nigeria’s economic transformation.”

The journey of Nigeria’s agriculture from independence till date has been topsy turvy but as stakeholders have rightly said, creating an enabling environment for operators in the sector, encouraging full private sector participation, formulating and implementing right policies and ridding the sector of political farmers will breathe new life into it and position it as the game changer for the country’s 21st century economy.

Calls have reached a crescendo for the sector to be modernised.

This means moving from subsistence farming to agribusiness-driven production. Mechanisation, access to finance, research and rural infrastructure must be prioritised. Climate-smart agriculture, irrigation and investment in storage and processing are key to reducing losses and creating value chains that benefit farmers.

With deliberate reforms and political will, the agriculture sector still holds the power to feed the nation, create millions of jobs and restore Nigeria’s lost glory as the agricultural giant of Africa.

The post Nigeria@65: Africa’s ‘giant’ yet to conquer hunger appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.

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