Experts: Investment Crucial to Making Agriculture Scalable, Profitable

NumeEkeghe

Experts in Nigeria’s food and agriculture ecosystem have renewed calls for increased investment, insisting that unlocking the sector’s potential requires a deliberate focus on financing, infrastructure, and data-driven systems.

This was the central message at the inaugural PricePally Impact Summit, held in Lagos with  the theme, “From Farm to Table: The Future of Fresh Foods – Sustainable, Affordable, and Accessible,” the summit brought together actors across the agricultural value chain to explore practical pathways toward transforming Nigeria’s agriculture from a largely subsistence practice into a scalable and commercially viable enterprise.

Delivering the keynote address, Country Director at AGRA Nigeria, Dr. Rufus Idris, underscored the need for strategic, system-wide planning powered by data intelligence. According to him, coordinated interventions backed by reliable data remain the bedrock of scaling agricultural enterprises in Nigeria.

On her part, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, AbisolaOlusanya, called for grassroots-driven, market-facing policies that address the inefficiencies that have historically hampered agricultural productivity and food distribution.

Chief Executive Officer of PricePally, Luther Lawoyin, used the forum to call attention to the need for narrative change around farming and food enterprise.

“It is hard to see the farmers who are the key people being brought to the spotlight and we thought we needed to correct that. It’s hard to be a farmer in Nigeria and we want to change that narrative. A farmer should be prosperous while tilling the ground, and not be a slave,” he said.

Lawoyin also stressed the importance of data integration for improved decision-making, noting that transforming agriculture into a profitable venture will require a shift from fragmented operations to enterprise-level efficiency.