The National President of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, has cautioned that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to reduce food prices by addressing transport costs could backfire if broader structural challenges confronting the agricultural sector are not simultaneously tackled.Reacting to the pronouncement by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Ibrahim described the situation as being “caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.”
He explained that while lowering transport costs may provide temporary relief, other critical issues such as high input costs, energy supply, insecurity, and distribution bottlenecks continue to frustrate farmers and agribusinesses across the country.
“Until the cost of inputs such as fertilizers, agrochemicals, seeds, and transport costs making distribution expensive; attainment of steady and affordable energy supply to enable seamless processing; and curbing insecurity are adequately addressed, there are possible catch-22 situations that will arise to make the policy inimical to internal economic growth,” Ibrahim said.
According to him, many commodity groups are already discouraged from production due to prevailing market prices that make it impossible to break even. “A clear example is rice millers and farmers, maize farmers, etc., and the list goes on,” he added.
Also the national president of AFAN, Ibrahim noted that the recent zero-tariff food importation policy, implemented between July and December 2024, had worsened the plight of local producers. He therefore urged the Federal Government to reinvigorate the Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) scheme to buy off commodities from large-scale farmers currently struggling under the burden of imported competition.
He also highlighted ongoing reforms such as the development of the National Farmer Soil Health Card (NFSHC), the post-harvest mitigation programme launched at the last Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Dakar, and the farm machinery distribution scheme unveiled in July 2025. However, he stressed that these measures were insufficient unless implemented urgently and effectively.
“We support the idea of available and affordable food for Nigerians, but we must take cognizance of sustainable solutions and not adhoc measures—especially when such measures are likely to adversely affect in-country productivity. We must be sympathetic to both producers and users for equity and sustainability,” the NABG President said.
On Wednesday, Tinubu directed a committee of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to take urgent action to further crash food prices in the country, a move announced by the Minister of State for Agriculture at a capacity-building workshop for Senate Press Corps in Abuja.
