Nigeria spends a staggering $10 billion every year on importing food items such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and even tomato paste, according to Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security. Kyari made this disclosure during his speech at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. 2025 Agric and Export Expo held in Lagos.
Represented by his Special Adviser, Mr. Ibrahim Alkali, Kyari lamented the growing rate of food imports, urging for a substantial increase in agricultural financing to boost local production and exports. He highlighted the urgent need for Nigeria to reduce its reliance on food imports, especially given its vast agricultural potential.
“Agriculture already contributes 35 percent to our GDP and employs 35 percent of our workforce,” Kyari said. He pointed out that the country possesses 85 million hectares of arable land and a youth population of over 70 percent under the age of 30. Despite these resources, Nigeria currently accounts for less than 0.5 percent of global agro-exports.
At present, Nigeria earns less than $400 million annually from agricultural exports. To change this, Kyari emphasized the need for a shift in financing models and the promotion of value-added agribusinesses. He called on policymakers to rethink how agriculture is financed, stressing that boosting domestic production and expanding exports go hand in hand.
“The goal is food sovereignty,” Kyari declared. “Nigeria must not only feed itself but do so independently, without excessive dependence on imports. We need to ensure that no Nigerian goes hungry, regardless of global food supply shocks.”
Kyari also reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s agricultural sector and achieving food sovereignty. He said, “Sovereignty means empowering communities to stand strong on the strength of our land, our people, and our productivity.”
The Minister went further to stress that Nigeria has the land, labor, and markets necessary to thrive in agriculture. However, what the country lacks is a system of financing, value addition, and infrastructure to turn its potential into prosperity.
Kyari called for innovative financing mechanisms, such as Pay-as-Harvest schemes, factoring forward contracts, and performance-based agricultural financing. These methods, he argued, are not mere theories but proven models used successfully in other economies.
He concluded by stating that Nigeria must pivot from reliance on oil exports to food and agribusiness exports, from raw commodity exports to value-added products, and from fragmented agricultural credit to structured financial systems that attract significant capital.
