The Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has unveiled a comprehensive 10-Year Agrifood System Strategy and Action Plan, which will be submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.
The strategy forms part of efforts to align Nigeria’s food security agenda with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration (2026–2035), while transforming the country’s agricultural ecosystem.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during the Agrifood System Working Group meeting held in Abuja.
Kyari said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had directed the ministry to move “beyond rhetoric, beyond pilot projects, and beyond fragmented interventions” by delivering a coherent, bankable and implementable plan to transform Nigeria’s agrifood system, stressing that food security remains a national security priority.
“Governance is not merely one of the six strategic objectives of the Kampala Declaration; it is the bedrock upon which all other pillars—sustainable production, investment, food security, inclusivity and resilience—must stand,” he said.
The minister said the strategy was developed following extensive stakeholder consultations and validation exercises across the six geopolitical zones and at the national level to ensure broad participation, inclusivity and national ownership.
According to him, Nigeria remains fully committed to implementing the Kampala Declaration, adopted in Uganda in January 2025.
Kyari said the strategy and action plan would first be adopted by the Agrifood System Working Group before being forwarded to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
He said the approval would ensure that every ministry, department and agency aligns its programmes and budgets with the strategy’s unified vision.
Highlighting achievements under the Renewed Hope Agenda, the minister said the Federal Government had distributed more than 10 million bags of fertiliser under the Guaranteed Price Model to support two million smallholder farmers. He added that an additional 1.9 million bags of fertiliser had been distributed to more than one million farmers.
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He also said the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) had distributed more than 500,000 bags of free fertiliser to over 120,000 farmers across 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Other achievements, he said, include the establishment of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), government-enabled, private sector-led industrial hubs that bring infrastructure closer to farming communities and enable farmers to process raw agricultural produce into finished products.
“In addition, the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme has deployed 2,000 tractors and other equipment to modernise farming practices, while the distribution of one million improved hybrid cocoa seedlings is repositioning Nigeria’s cocoa industry for greater global competitiveness,” he said.
Kyari said the impact of the interventions was already evident, with prices of essential food commodities declining by as much as 50 per cent across the country.
To ensure effective implementation, he said the Agrifood System Working Group, comprising representatives of the public and private sectors, development partners, academia, farmers’ associations and civil society organisations, would meet twice a year to review progress and recommend solutions.
The minister also announced that a Community of Practice meeting for state commissioners responsible for agrifood systems would be held in September 2026 to strengthen coordination and drive implementation at the sub-national level.
“I urge all stakeholders to embrace governance as our collective responsibility. Let us strengthen inter-ministerial coordination and ensure that accountability is not an afterthought but a guiding principle.
“The time to act is now. Let us demonstrate the political will, governance capacity and collective resolve to transform our agrifood systems and deliver the Nigeria we want,” he said.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, stressed the need to establish a robust and reliable agricultural data system.
He described the Agrifood System Working Group as a practical platform for improving agricultural productivity, nutrition and market access.
Also speaking, the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, said the successful implementation of the strategy would require adequate financing, innovative funding mechanisms, strong public-private partnerships, active participation by state governments and sustained support from development partners.
In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, said the Kampala Declaration provides a clear framework for coordinated action across the agrifood system by promoting investment, resilience, policy coherence and mutual accountability.
He noted that Nigeria’s agrifood system remains central to the country’s development objectives, supporting livelihoods, driving rural economies and creating opportunities for employment and inclusive growth.
Ogunbiyi said the establishment of the Agrifood System Working Group was intended to strengthen governance across the sector by addressing interconnected challenges and developing sustainable solutions to improve food security.
