By Abbas Nazil
Two years into President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria’s food security landscape reflects a mix of policy initiatives, partial progress, and persistent challenges.
While the government has launched ambitious agricultural programs, food insecurity remains acute, with millions still facing hunger due to inflation, climate shocks, and insecurity.
At his inauguration, Tinubu promised agricultural hubs, modernized grain reserves, and commodity boards to stabilize prices and boost farmer incomes.
The administration has taken steps toward these goals, including the inauguration of the Sustainable Power and Irrigation in Nigeria (SPIN) project, backed by the World Bank, to enhance irrigation and hydropower.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture also urged research institutes to improve seed varieties, emphasizing climate adaptation.
However, implementation has been uneven. The National Agricultural Development Fund and proposed commodity exchange boards are yet to fully materialize, leaving farmers vulnerable to price volatility.
Food insecurity remains dire. The latest Cadre Harmonisé report projects 30.6 million Nigerians will face acute hunger by mid-2025, with the northwest and northeast as hardest hit.
Floods in Borno State in 2024 worsened conditions, prompting emergency interventions like the African Development Bank’s $1 million relief fund, distributed by the World Food Programme.
While the government touts its conditional cash transfer program (N25,000 to 9.34 million households), critics argue it’s insufficient amid soaring food prices.
The World Bank had faulted the programme, stating that the initiative failed to reach millions of Nigerians in need of urgent economic relief, as only 37 per cent of the targeted households had so far benefited from the scheme.
It said the scheme launched in 2023 after the abrupt removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market by the current administration, only reached 5.6 million households out of the planned 15 million, two years after the launch.
The World Bank also acknowledged macroeconomic improvements like FX stability and reduced fiscal deficits, but warned that Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target is unrealistic without drastic growth acceleration.
Inflation, though moderating, has kept food prices high, eroding gains.
The 2025 budget’s ambitious revenue targets also raise concerns about feasibility, with fears of deficit monetization resurfacing.
On irrigation, the SPIN project aims to build on the success of TRIMING, which rehabilitated 32,000 hectares of farmland.
Yet, arable land expansion and low-cost farmer loans promises are progressing slowly. Rural infrastructure gaps persist, and conflicts over land/water resources continue to disrupt livestock production in the north.