The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has said the Federal Government has recorded significant progress in food production under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, despite persistent processing and distribution gaps that continue to keep food prices high.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, following concerns over the slow impact of agricultural reforms on food prices, Kyari said the progress was reflected in lower farm-gate prices, noting that the major challenge now lies in bridging the gaps between where food is produced, processed and ultimately consumed.
“Let’s go down memory lane and think about the figures in 2023 and 2024. When you look at those and compare them with what the reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration have done, we are on the right track.
“However, even if you look at the NBS figures, you would see that agro-processing has not come down, but production has come down. Which means at the farm gate, prices have come down considerably.
“So, these are other gaps that need to be looked at. But we have tackled the production of food, and we have seen considerable success in that regard.”
The minister also attributed Nigeria’s food import dependence to rapid population growth, low agricultural productivity, limited access to land and the high cost of farm inputs and production.
“Due to certain factors, we’ve not been able to catch up in terms of the growth of population. We are growing on average about 8 to 9 million people every year. 25 years ago, we were half of what we are today, and 25 years from now, we will be double what we are. Of course, there are other factors: access to land, and productivity is still at a very low stage.
“To catch up with that, I think it’s something that we need to look at—the issue of productivity, having good quality seeds. This is what we’ve been trying to do; we’ve been able to at least impact a lot of farmers to give them subsidized inputs and subsidized seeds,” he said.
On agricultural mechanisation and value addition, Kyari said the government was working to reduce dependence on processed food imports through mechanisation, local processing and the Special Agro-Processing Zones.
“I’m sure by the time you see the harvest of the wet season harvest figures, you will see a considerable reduction in food imports. When you look at food imports, it’s actually processed food that is on the rise in terms of the figures that we see, but farm produce is still coming down.
“That’s exactly what the government is trying to do. If you recall the ban on the export of raw items like shea nuts, and so also we’re looking at other areas and crops that we can reduce so that we add value. Also, we have the SAPZ (Special Agro-Processing Zones) that will come on stream before the end of next year, all eight of them, and we are even going into the second phase, the first tranche of about 10 states. What that seeks to do is production, aggregation, storage, processing, and marketing. So that SAPZ is also another mechanism of government that would help to reduce our dependence on processed food.”
Speaking on the government’s efforts to tackle food insecurity, Minister Kyari said more farmlands previously inaccessible due to insecurity had been reopened, contributing to bumper harvests in 2024 and 2025.
“A lot of our farmlands that were hitherto not accessible in 2023 have now been accessed. In 2024, there was a massive bumper harvest, and in 2025, even more than 2024. We are waiting for the 2026 figures to come out. Which meant that there’s more access to farmland in areas that were under insecure conditions.
“So, there’s improvement in that regard. Obviously, government and the armed forces are doing a lot trying to liberate those farmlands that were hitherto under insecure areas.”
On when the 2026 agricultural production figures will be released, Kyari disclosed that the National Agricultural Extension Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is expected to release the figures by October or November.
“Usually after harvest. I believe the National Agricultural Extension Research Liaison Services—which is a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and ABU, Zaria, located in Zaria—usually gives us figures at every end of the harvest of rain-fed agriculture. But we have also mandated them to give us figures at every cycle of harvest because we’re trying to encourage all-year-round farming.
“We are going to start doing that this year. So by October or November, we should be able to get those figures out, and also March for the first cycle of the dry season, and then June for the second cycle.”
On the outlook for 2026, Kyari projected a harvest higher than the 2025 bumper harvest, citing improved productivity, stabilised input prices and government interventions, including free fertiliser from the National Agricultural Development Fund and a 50 per cent fertiliser subsidy from the Bank of Agriculture.
“Actually, much more than that of 2025. There are challenges in terms of input prices, but we’ve been able to—I mean, we all know that productivity has increased because even the loud noise is coming down; it’s no longer that issue that was there before in 2023 and 2024. Prices have come down and stabilized, and like I said, we’re trying to see how we can balance the welfare of the citizenry and that of the farmers. I know there was a lot of outcry last year, but the outcry in terms of inputs has quieted down.
“There were a lot of interventions from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Bank of Agriculture, and the National Agricultural Development Fund. The National Agricultural Development Fund issued out fertilizer at no cost to the farmer, while Bank of Agriculture has done a 50% subsidy.”
Sharing details of the Nigerian Agricultural Mechanisation Policy, Minister Kyari said the tractors supplied under the programme were already deployed to farms, with each tractor expected to cover at least 500 to 600 hectares annually.
“Yes, that’s right, farmer have access to the tractors. The tractors are on the field now, but of course, you won’t see a tractor now because it’s past land preparation. What we are tracking now is tractor performance. We want to see a tractor perform on at least 500 to 600 hectares per year. So even if you have a farm that is about 100 hectares, you must pass on those subsidies that you have to your neighbors so that a tractor is being tracked to do at least 500 to 600 hectares annually. That is productivity. So when we have 2,000 tractors, it means we’re looking at a million hectares easily for every year for land preparation.”
Speaking on the agricultural reforms introduced under the Tinubu administration, Kyari said the government had implemented several interventions since declaring a state of emergency on food security in 2023, including the National Agricultural Technology Innovation Policy and the domestication of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.
“When you look at the declaration of emergency on food security in 2023 and the interventions that were done in 2024, 2025, and up till now, you could see that it was an emergency issue. By and large, we are working also on some of the policies. We have the NATIP, which is the National Agricultural Technology Innovation Policy that ends in 2027 next year.
“We’re developing the new national policy now that would succeed NATIP. Then we also have the CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme) declaration. I’m happy to say that we are the first country in Africa to domesticate the CAADP, and we have the Agricultural Sector Working Group made up of about 84 different organizations and the private sector. It’s government, private sector, and development partners coming together and meeting quarterly to develop the trajectory of what we need to do, because you must appreciate that we are at an emergency situation.”
On concerns over malnutrition particularly in Northern Nigeria, Kyari said vulnerable communities affected by insecurity and climate change remained particularly exposed, while the government was promoting drought-tolerant seed varieties and expanding access to cultivable land.
“I’ve always questioned some of the figures that come out. That is not to say we don’t have malnutrition; we see it, especially in vulnerable areas that have been impacted either by insecurity or by climate change.
“What we’re trying to do is get new varieties of seeds that are drought-tolerant. In terms of land preparation, it costs a bit to develop one hectare—about 1.5 million Naira. So it comes slowly, and it’s a collaboration between federal government, state government, and NALDA, which is doing some land preparation.”
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