According to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, Nigeria’s agriculture strategy needs to be more flexible and adaptive in light of growing worries about food shortages and economic fragility.
The Federal Ministry of Finance’s official X (formerly Twitter) account posted a message on Wednesday stating that Edun made the call during the first meeting of the Agricultural Sector Working Group (ASWG), held on Tuesday, April 15th, in Abuja.
He restated the Federal Government’s steadfast dedication to sustaining food security by encouraging creative agricultural reforms and strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation.
According to the Minister, Nigeria must urgently realign its agricultural priorities with the post-Malabo agenda—Africa’s continental framework for agricultural transformation—by focusing on three key pillars: boosting productivity, expanding access to affordable finance, and unlocking opportunities for value-added exports.
He noted that agriculture remains the bedrock of President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda.
He emphasised the need for a nimble agricultural framework capable of responding swiftly to global and domestic shocks, including climate change, inflationary pressures, and disruptions in the food supply chain.
The ASWG, which includes representatives from the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Industry, and other development partners, is expected to coordinate policy, align investments, and track progress towards national and continental food security objectives.
Edun also assured stakeholders that the Ministry of Finance is prepared to back transformative initiatives across the agricultural value chain, including interventions in mechanisation, irrigation infrastructure, agro-processing, and digital agriculture solutions.
In addition to providing funding, he stated that the Finance Ministry’s job is to ensure that our investment structure encourages creativity, responsibility, and quantifiable agricultural impact.
The federal government started implementing policies to support domestic wheat production in December 2024 to improve food security and lessen dependency on imported wheat.
This endeavour is a component of a larger plan to support economic growth and increase agricultural production through the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP).
The program targets 280,000 smallholder farmers and a chosen number of medium-sized farmers grouped into clusters. 281 of the 409 redemption facilities set up countrywide to aid input distribution are currently open. With 68,389 farmers reached, these centres have achieved 24.42% of the goal.
Source: Nairametrics
Image Credit: Radio Now
