• Says Nigeria sadly accounts for less than 0.5%of global agro-exports
By Obinna Uballa
Nigeria spends more than $10 billion annually(roughly about N15 trillion) importing basic food items such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and tomato paste, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has lamented.
Speaking at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. 2025 Agric and Export Expo in Lagos on Tuesday, Kyari, represented by his Special Adviser, Ibrahim Alkali, lamented that the nation’s dependence on imports continues to undermine domestic agriculture and food security.
“Agriculture already contributes 35 per cent of our GDP and employs 35 per cent of the workforce. We sit on 85 million hectares of arable land with a youth population of over 70 per cent under the age of 30. Yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of global agro-exports,” he said.
According to the minister, Nigeria earns less than $400 million from agricultural exports despite its vast resources. He stressed the urgent need to increase agricultural financing to boost local production and reduce import dependence.
Kyari said President Bola Tinubu’s administration is committed to achieving food sovereignty, noting that the government’s priority is to ensure Nigeria feeds itself sustainably while developing export capacity.
“Food sovereignty means no Nigerian should go hungry because of global supply shocks. Boosting domestic production and supporting exports are two sides of the same coin,” he said.
The minister identified poor financing structures, weak value addition, and inadequate infrastructure as key obstacles limiting agriculture’s transformation into a driver of prosperity.
He called for innovative approaches such as revenue-sharing models, performance-linked agricultural financing, forward contracts, and Pay-as-Harvest schemes, which he said have worked in other economies.
“The fundamentals compel us to pivot from dependence on oil rigs to resilience in food and export earnings; from raw commodity exports to value-added agribusiness; and from fragmented farmer credit to structured systems that attract capital,” Kyari added.
