NBCC, Agro-stakeholders Call for Policy Reform, Investment Strategies to Upscale  Agri Productivity

Dike Onwuamaeze

The President of Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Mr. Abimbola Olashore, and stakeholders in the Nigerian agricultural sector have called for reform in Nigeria’s agricultural policy framework and investment initiatives that would unlock growth and competitiveness and enable the country to attain food security.

This call was made during the NBCC’s Agriculture and Agro-Allied Summit with the theme, “Ensuring Food Security in Nigeria: Innovations, Investments and Policy for a Resilient Future.”

The stakeholders emphasised that good policy is the force multiplier that would make innovation and investment work at scale, otherwise “all the funding and technology in the world will dissipate like water in dry sand.

“So, first, we need a serious, costed, and time-bound National Food Security Strategy, one that moves beyond elegant documents to binding implementation frameworks with accountability mechanisms.”

Olashore said that Nigeria has continued to confront significant challenges and barriers to achieving sustainable food security despite being richly endowed with vast arable land, a vibrant and youthful population, and an entrepreneurial spirit.

He said: “However, these challenges also present clear opportunities for reform and transformation. Opportunities to deepen agricultural productivity through innovation, from climate-smart agriculture to digital tools that enhance efficiency, traceability, and market access.

“Opportunities to mobilise investments across the entire agricultural value chain, from production and storage to processing, logistics, and export. And critically, opportunities to strengthen policy frameworks that unlock growth and competitiveness.

“In this regard, policy reform remains central to our collective ambition. Key areas such as improving access to agricultural finance, strengthening land use systems, reducing post-harvest losses through infrastructure investment, and enhancing agro-processing capacity must remain priorities.”

He also harped on the need to, “significantly expand Nigeria’s agro-export footprint and strengthen our integration into global value chains.”

In his presentation during the summit, the Group Managing Director of Johnvents Group Limited, Mr. John Alamu, said that Nigeria must embrace climate-smart agriculture through the application of drought-tolerant and flood-resistant seed varieties, precision irrigation systems, and agro-meteorological advisory services that would help smallholder farmers to make better planting decisions.

Alamu said that Nigeria need bold, blended, patient finance, through a creative combination of public funding, development finance, and private capital because public financing alone could not fund the country’s agricultural transformation.

He also called for urgent reform of in food safety and market infrastructure because post-harvest losses are not only a logistical problem, they are a policy failure.

“Investment in rural roads, cold chain networks, warehousing, and market information systems requires sustained political will over multiple budget cycles,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Consulting Officer, Shakwol Consulting Services, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya, called for strategic collaboration between federal, state and local governments and private sector actors to streamline food system policies.

Onasanya, who is a retired permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, said that “actionable food security initiatives that can transform agricultural policies into tangible actions will curb rising food prices and tackle food shortages.”

He called for right policy framework, because even the best innovations and investments will fail to achieve their full potential.

He advised government to focus on improving security in farming communities and ensuring that subsidies reach genuine farmers through transparent and efficient distribution systems.

“My advice is that government should privatise inputs and mechanisation. Let those value chains go to the private sector. In the medium term, land reform is critical. Access to land remains a major constraint, particularly for young people and women. Simplifying land acquisition processes and strengtheneing land rights can unlock significant investment. Establishing more farm estates and settlements is crucial,” he said.

The Founder/Managing Director of Babban Gona, Mr. Kola Masha, said that Nigeria must solve its biggest fundamental impediment to food security, which is investment in the agricultural sector.  

Masha said that a typical Nigerian smallholder farmer, who is the backbone of the agricultural sector, has no access to loans to be able to buy the quantity and quality of agricultural inputs they need to boost their productivity.

“I think solving that will unlock tremendous productivity and growth in the sector,” he said.