Nigeria spends roughly $10 billion every year on importing food items such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and tomato paste, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari.
Speaking at the First Bank of Nigeria Agric and Export Expo in Lagos, Kyari—represented by his Special Adviser, Mr. Ibrahim Alkali—expressed concern over the country’s growing dependence on food imports. He called for innovative financing solutions to boost local agricultural production and expand exports.
Despite agriculture contributing 35% to Nigeria’s GDP and employing an equal percentage of the workforce, Kyari noted that Nigeria earns less than $400 million annually from agro-exports and accounts for under 0.5% of global agricultural exports. This is in spite of having 85 million hectares of arable land and a predominantly young population, with over 70% under the age of 30.
“To build a strong non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture,” he said.
Kyari reaffirmed the Tinubu administration’s goal of achieving food sovereignty, emphasizing that Nigeria must reduce its reliance on food imports and ensure no citizen goes hungry due to global supply disruptions.
“Every community must thrive on the strength of our land, our people, and our productivity,” he said, adding that boosting domestic production and supporting exports must go hand-in-hand.
He stressed that while Nigeria has the necessary land, labour, and market, it still lacks adequate financing systems, infrastructure, and value addition to turn its potential into real economic growth.
Kyari called for a shift from oil dependency to agricultural resilience, proposing a move away from fragmented credit schemes to structured financing systems that can attract large-scale investments. He also urged greater youth engagement in agribusiness and the development of performance-linked mechanisms for agricultural success.
“Nigeria can do better if we improve systems like revenue sharing, forward contracts, and Pay-as-Harvest models. These are not just theories—they’re already working in other countries,” Kyari concluded.
