The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has expressed satisfaction with the recent drop in food prices across the country, noting, however, that the federal government’s focus was now on tackling the high cost of farm inputs such as fertiliser, irrigation systems, and fuel to sustain the progress.
He stated this while speaking with journalists after attending a Senate public hearing in Abuja,
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Chaired by Senator Salihu Mustapha (Kwara Central), organised the forum to enable stakeholders make input into three proposed bills.
They are the Cassava Flour (Mandatory Inclusion into Flour Production) (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (5B. 254); The National Food Reserve Agency (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (SB. 139): and the Rice Development Council of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024 (SB. 541)
Kyari said Tinubu’s administration was working out mechanisms to make critical agricultural inputs more affordable and accessible to farmers through credit facilities and partnerships with the private sector.
He said, “I’m happy with the crash of food prices but it’s the inputs that we’re working on. Fertilizers, irrigation, fuel, and other essentials.
“We are trying to create mechanisms that will allow farmers to access credit and, at the same time, cheaper products for farming.”
The minister explained that the government’s intervention in the input supply chain would not be limited to staple crops alone but would also cover other key agricultural produce such as onions, tomatoes, and peppers.
“When we talk about fertilizer and inputs, it won’t be only for staple food; it’s for everybody, onions, tomatoes, peppers, and other agricultural crops,” he added.
On the issue of post-harvest losses, a major challenge affecting Nigeria’s food security, Kyari disclosed that the ministry has initiated a legacy project that focuses on storage facilities at the community level rather than the large urban silos that have long dominated government policy.
He added, “We have already made a legacy project on post-harvest losses, which includes storage at the community level, not the silos that are situated in urban areas.
“We are driving a new harvest silos programme where about 85 percent of storage will be located within rural communities to replace the old, inefficient silos.”
Kyari revealed that the new initiative was being supported through two key funding frameworks, the New Growth Infrastructure Fund and the National Agriculture Development Fund, both of which aim to improve Nigeria’s agricultural value chain and reduce food wastage.
According to him, community-based storage would not only cut post-harvest losses but also strengthen the country’s food chain, ensuring that surplus produce can be preserved and released during periods of scarcity to stabilise prices.
The minister acknowledged that while food prices have begun to decline since last year, the government remains focused on achieving greater stability and affordability by 2026.
He added, “In 2020 and even before last year, food prices were high. This year, we’ve seen that prices have gone down, but we are not where we want to be yet. We are still on the trajectory toward even lower food prices.”
Kyari assured that ongoing reforms in the agricultural sector were part of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed commitment to ensuring food security and rural prosperity under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He also hinted that the administration would soon roll out additional support measures to boost productivity, enhance mechanisation and promote agro-processing in partnership with state governments and farmer cooperatives.
“Our goal is to make sure that every farmer, big or small, has the tools, inputs, and storage facilities needed to contribute to national food security,” Kyari said.
Agriculture sector experts have long identified the high cost of inputs, inadequate storage, and weak distribution networks as major barriers to sustainable food production and price stability.
Kyari’s remarks suggest that the federal government is now prioritising structural reforms to address these bottlenecks and consolidate the recent gains in the food market.
With the combination of community-based storage facilities, improved credit access, and lower input costs, the Ministry of Agriculture hopes to place Nigeria firmly on a path toward self-sufficiency and long-term food security by 2026.
Sunday Aborisade
