Photo File: Vice President, Kashim Shettima

The Federal Government on Tuesday announced sweeping agricultural reforms and investment incentives aimed at creating 21 million jobs and lifting 35 million Nigerians out of poverty under President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda.

Vice President Kashim Shettima outlined the plans at the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) National and Subregional Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum in Abuja, where he described hunger as “the great equaliser that reveals our vulnerabilities and the shared fragility of our existence.”

Shettima said the reforms would expand irrigation, improve access to credit, strengthen mechanisation and open up land registration systems to attract private investment. He noted that Nigeria has the potential to irrigate more than three million hectares of farmland but currently uses less than 10 percent.

“Strategic investment in irrigation alone could triple yields, free us from seasonal dependency, and fortify our resilience against climate shocks,” the Vice President said. “Food is not merely a matter of survival; it is a matter of global security. Nigeria is open for business, and we are ready to partner with you.”

According to a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, the incentives include single-window platforms for land acquisition, public-private partnerships, and the integration of agritech innovations.

The Vice President added that the 2021–2025 National Development Plan remains the blueprint for securing food and nutrition sufficiency and driving rural development.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari said Nigeria’s large arable land, favourable climate and fast-growing digital economy presented unique opportunities for investors across the agribusiness ecosystem. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, described agriculture as central to economic diversification, saying irrigation alone could transform rural livelihoods.

The initiative received international backing at Tuesday’s forum. The FAO representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr Hussein Gadain, hailed Nigeria’s agricultural priorities as “catalysts for transformative and sustainable growth within Africa’s agri-food systems”, while praising Shettima’s “visionary leadership”. Similarly, EU Ambassador Gautier Mignot reaffirmed Europe’s long-term partnership with Nigeria, citing an €80m investment in value chains across seven states.

The Minister of Agriculture of The Gambia, Dr Demba Sabally, also lauded Nigeria’s achievements in rice and cassava production, urging West African countries to adopt peer review mechanisms to tackle shared challenges.

But farmers at home urged the government to move from policy pronouncements to implementation. National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kabir Kebram, said, “You can have a policy, but unless you implement it very well, you cannot see the results. We call on the Vice President to actualise what he promised.”

Peter Dama, Chairman of the Competitive African Rice Forum, cautioned against “a cycle of promises without delivery”, adding, “Government can make statements, but implementation might take quite some time. Already, we are moving toward the dry season.”

The Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) was more critical, insisting past interventions had failed to improve food production. Its national secretary, Chinasa Asonye, noted that smallholder women farmers—who form the backbone of food supply—were yet to benefit from existing loan schemes or inclusion in policies.

She faulted the government’s failure to meet the Malabo Declaration’s 10 per cent budgetary allocation to agriculture, stressing that Nigeria currently spends less than 1.9 per cent. “They know our problems, but if they fail to look into them, farmers will keep struggling by themselves,” Asonye said.

The government’s new reform push comes amid soaring food prices and worsening insecurity, compounded by subsidy removal and currency reforms in 2023, which deepened inflation and heightened calls for structural investment in agriculture.