NIGERIA SPENDS $10BN ANNUALLY ON IMPORTATION OF FISH, TOMATO PASTE, AND OTHER GOODS

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BY OWOLABI OLUWADARA

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has indicated that Nigeria allocates $10 billion each year on agricultural imports, such as wheat and fish.

Kyari revealed this information at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., 2025 Agriculture and Export Expo, on Tuesday in Lagos.

The minister decried the rising rate of agro-imports. He stressed the need for more financing of agro activities to boost local exports.

“President Tinubu’s administration has made it clear that food sovereignty is the goal. Nigeria must not only feed itself, but to do on its own terms, free from excessive dependency on imports.

Sovereignty signifies guaranteeing that no Nigerian faces hunger due to disruptions in the global food supply chain, enabling each community to thrive based on the vitality of our land, our populace, and our productivity.

“Enhancing domestic production and establishing support for exports are not divergent objectives; they represent two facets of the same issue.

“We possess the land, the workforce, and the markets; however, we are deficient in the financing frameworks, value enhancement, and infrastructure necessary to transform potential into prosperity.

“The fundamentals dictate that we transition from reliance on oil extraction to resilience in food and export revenues, shifting from rural commodity exports to value-added agribusiness. ”

“From disjointed agricultural financing to organized financial frameworks that draw substantial investment, and from conventional viewpoints to enhanced engagement of young people in the farming industry,” Kyari remarked.

He also highlighted the necessity for enhanced systems and analytical thinking to strengthen food security.

“Nigeria has the potential for improvement if we adopt critical thinking and enhance mechanisms such as revenue distribution, financial strategies, agricultural objectives with performance incentives, and factoring forward contracts like Pay-as-Harvest, among others.

“These are not theoretical concepts. They are effective in actual economies,” he stated.