Federal Govt Unveils 10-Year Agrifood Plan, Seeks FEC Approval

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has unveiled a 10-year Agrifood System Strategy and Action Plan designed to transform Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem and align the country’s food security agenda with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration (2026–2035).

The plan will be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval after the Agrifood System Working Group considers and adopts it.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said that President Bola Tinubu had directed the ministry to move “beyond rhetoric, beyond pilot projects, and beyond fragmented interventions” to deliver a coherent, bankable, and implementable plan to transform Nigeria’s agrifood system.

The minister said the administration considered food security a national security imperative and stressed that governance remained central to the strategy’s success.

Kyari said the strategy was developed through extensive stakeholder consultations and validation exercises across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones and at the national level to ensure broad participation, inclusivity and national ownership.

According to him, Nigeria, as a committed member state, had pledged to the Kampala Declaration adopted in Uganda in January 2025.

The minister said the strategy would ensure that ministries, departments and agencies align their programmes and budgets with a unified national vision for agrifood transformation.

“Governance is not merely one of six strategic objectives of the Kampala Declaration; it is the bedrock upon which all other pillars of sustainable production, investment, food security, inclusivity, and resilience must stand. I enjoin all stakeholders to embrace governance as our collective responsibility. Let us strengthen inter-ministerial coordination and ensure that accountability is not an afterthought but a guiding principle,” Kyari urged.

He said the Agrifood System Working Group, comprising representatives of the public and private sectors, development partners, academia, farmers’ associations and civil society, would meet twice a year to review progress and proffer solutions.

He also announced that a Community of Practice meeting for state commissioners responsible for agrifood systems would be held in September 2026 to strengthen coordination and drive domestication of the strategy at the sub-national level.

Speaking during the ministerial statements on agrifood system transformation, the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, said, “The successful implementation of this Strategy will require adequate financing, innovative funding mechanisms, strong public-private partnerships, active participation of State Governments, and sustained support from our development partners”.

We must ensure that resources are deployed efficiently, transparently, and in a manner that delivers measurable results”.

In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, said, “The Kampala Declaration provides a clear framework for coordinated action across the agrifood system, promoting investment, resilience, policy coherence, and mutual accountability.

Nigeria’s agrifood system remains central to our national development objectives. It supports livelihoods, fuels rural economies, and offers significant opportunities for job creation and inclusive growth”.