By Abdullahi Lukman
Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, says government policies aimed at tackling food inflation have led to a 50 percent reduction in the prices of essential food commodities across the country.
Kyari made the announcement on Friday during the 2026 ministerial stakeholders’ engagement retreat on agricultural transformation held in Abuja. He said the decline contrasts with previous years when rising food prices placed basic commodities beyond the reach of many Nigerians.
According to the minister, the federal government’s reforms in the agricultural sector have also attracted millions of dollars in investment, strengthening agribusiness activities and supporting broader economic growth.
He explained that the investments and policy interventions have improved agricultural productivity, generated employment opportunities and increased incomes for farmers, helping to enhance the competitiveness of Nigeria’s agribusiness sector.
Kyari added that the government plans to sustain the improvement by addressing high production costs and other challenges affecting the availability and affordability of food.
The minister noted that agriculture has been prioritised as a key driver of economic development, with strategic efforts focused on developing major agricultural value chains such as rice, maize, wheat, millet, sorghum, yam, cocoa, cassava, soybeans, cotton, onion, tomato and oil palm.
These initiatives, he said, have enabled many smallholder farmers to expand beyond subsistence farming into commercial agribusiness.
Over the past two years, the government has implemented several programmes to boost productivity, including the distribution of more than 1.9 million bags of fertiliser to nearly one million farmers and the promotion of sustainable soil management through organic fertilisers.
Kyari also highlighted infrastructure projects completed between 2024 and 2025, including the construction of about 170 kilometres of asphalt roads and 57 kilometres of earth and surface roads to improve connectivity and access to markets.
Other interventions include the installation of 296 motorised and solar-powered boreholes with water treatment facilities to improve access to clean water, the deployment of 3,596 solar street lights to enhance security and mobility, and the construction of 69 rural housing and market facilities to support economic activities and reduce poverty in rural communities.
Meanwhile, stakeholders at the meeting urged the federal government to increase funding for agriculture, arguing that greater investment in the sector could generate jobs and help address insecurity across the country.