LAGOS – As Nigeria continues to grapple with rising food prices and supply shortages, agricultural stakeholders have called for deeper government involvement in farming, stronger food logistics systems, and long-term investments in climate-resilient agriculture to stabilise the prices of staple foods.
The stakeholders, who spoke on sustainable solutions to Nigeria’s food crisis, in separate interviews with Daily Independent argued that recurring spikes in food prices are symptoms of deeper structural challenges ranging from insecurity and weak infrastructure to poor storage systems, climate change and inconsistent agricultural policies.
Adebowale Onafowora, Managing Director of BIC Farms Concept, stressed that government must begin to treat food transportation as a matter of national security, warning that extortion and harassment of food transporters continue to worsen food inflation across the country.
According to him, officials found extorting food trucks should face immediate dismissal and prosecution as part of efforts to secure food supply chains.
Onafowora also called for an end to policies that encourage food imports, urging government to redirect import subsidies into a “Guaranteed Buy-Back” scheme for local farmers.
He said such a policy would assure farmers of profitable returns and encourage increased cultivation.
“If the farmer knows the government must buy their surplus at a fair price, they will plant until the land screams,” he said.
He further advocated the institutionalisation of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), including greenhouse farming and other protected systems, saying Nigeria could no longer depend solely on unpredictable weather conditions for vegetable production.
According to him, farmers should not be blamed for high food prices, insisting that government policies must prioritise profitability for producers to guarantee stable food production and market supply.
Also speaking, Oyewole Okewole, Senior Associate Consultant at FutuX Agri-consult Limited, identified year-round irrigation farming as one of the most critical long-term solutions to stabilising food supply and prices.
He noted that Nigeria’s heavy dependence on seasonal rainfall continues to make agricultural production unstable and vulnerable to climate disruptions.
Oyewole called for large-scale investment in irrigation infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, greenhouse farming, drip irrigation systems and heat-tolerant crop varieties.
He pointed out that some climate-resilient crop varieties developed by the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) could help farmers adapt to rising temperatures and harsh weather conditions.
He also stressed the need for stronger investment in processing and preservation industries such as tomato paste factories, drying facilities and agro-processing enterprises to reduce post-harvest losses and absorb excess produce during harvest seasons.
According to him, strengthening cold-chain logistics remains one of the most urgent interventions needed to reduce food waste, especially for perishable commodities.
“Without cold storage systems, Nigeria will continue losing a significant percentage of perishable foods before they reach consumers,” he said.
Oyewole further advocated stronger farmer cooperatives and aggregation centres to improve access to finance, logistics coordination and bargaining power.
Among other policy recommendations, he urged the government to develop a National Horticulture Development Strategy focused on vegetables and perishables, invest in rural roads and storage infrastructure through public-private partnerships, and provide targeted subsidies for irrigation equipment, greenhouse technologies and agro-processing investments.
He also called for expanded agricultural insurance schemes, improved security in farming communities, enhanced agricultural extension services and stronger support for research institutes such as NIHORT to develop climate-resilient crop varieties.
For Bola Oyeleke, National President of the Tomato and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria (TOPAN), government must move beyond regulation and become an active participant in agricultural production and food distribution.
He argued that Nigeria remains one of the few countries where government is not directly involved in food production, despite the sector’s strategic importance to national stability and economic growth.
According to him, government intervention must go beyond current efforts at tractorisation and input distribution.
He maintained that the number of tractors and farming inputs currently being deployed remains grossly inadequate for a country of Nigeria’s size and population.
“We need more tractors, more seeds and more inputs for small-scale farmers to produce effectively,” he said.
Oyeleke further advocated stronger government participation in food off-taking and storage systems, insisting that government should serve as the country’s largest buyer of agricultural produce to help stabilise market prices and maintain strategic food reserves in silos.
He also called for increased investment in agro-security operations, including improved equipment and technology for agro-rangers to secure farms and forests.
Similarly, Austine Gbenga Adeniba, Chief Operating Officer, Eliakim Integrated Services Limited, said Nigeria must transition from subsistence farming to a modern, climate-resilient and commercially integrated food system if it hopes to permanently stabilise food prices.
He warned that temporary measures such as market raids or short-term import waivers only provide brief relief without addressing the root causes of food inflation.
According to Adeniba, the country’s recurring food-price crisis is driven by structural issues including climate vulnerability, weak infrastructure, poor logistics, insecurity, low productivity, limited processing capacity and inconsistent policy implementation.
He stressed that the solution lies in a coordinated national agricultural transformation strategy focused on productivity, resilience, infrastructure, value addition and market efficiency.
“If properly implemented, Nigeria can stabilise food prices, reduce imports, improve farmer incomes, strengthen food security, create millions of jobs and become a regional agricultural powerhouse,” he said.
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