The Federal Government has expressed concern over Nigeria’s poor performance in agricultural exports, lamenting that despite the sector’s huge contribution to the economy, it generates less than $400m annually in foreign exchange earnings.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, stated this in Lagos at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. 2025 Agric and Export Expo, where he underscored the urgent need to rethink agricultural financing and reposition the sector as a major driver of non-oil exports.
Kyari disclosed that agriculture already contributes 35 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs an equivalent proportion of the nation’s workforce. He, however, stressed that the sector remains underperforming in global trade.
“We sit on 85 million hectares of arable land, with a youth population of more than 70 per cent under the age of 30, yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of global exports.
“In spite of this vast potential, Nigeria earns less than $400m from agro exports. To build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture,” he said.
Reiterating President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to achieving food sovereignty, Kyari emphasised that Nigeria must feed itself sustainably and reduce dependence on food imports.
“Food sovereignty means ensuring that no Nigerian goes hungry due to shocks in global food supply chains, while empowering communities to thrive on the strength of our land and productivity.
“Boosting domestic production and building support for exports are not separate agendas — they are two sides of the same coin,” he said.
The minister stressed that the country has the land, labour, and markets needed to transform agriculture, but lacks adequate financing structures, value addition, and infrastructure to convert potential into prosperity.
He called for a shift from reliance on crude oil exports to resilience through food production and value-added agribusiness.
According to him, this would require moving from fragmented farmer credit systems to structured financing mechanisms capable of attracting large-scale investments, while also encouraging greater youth participation in agriculture.
Kyari also urged stakeholders to adopt innovative financing models and practical mechanisms to boost agricultural productivity and food security.
“Nigeria can do better if we begin to think critically and embrace mechanisms such as revenue sharing, agricultural goals with performance triggers, factoring forward contracts, and Pay-as-Harvest models. These are not abstract theories — they are already working successfully in other economies,” he said.
The minister maintained that with deliberate reforms, improved financing, and strong value-chain development, Nigeria could significantly boost its agro export earnings and strengthen food sovereignty, positioning agriculture as a cornerstone of economic diversification.
