FG decries $10bn annual food import bill, urges innovative agric finance

By Babajide Komolafe

The Federal Government has lamented the $10 billion spent annually by the country on food imports, saying there is need for innovative financing solutions to boost agriculture and strengthen food security.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari made this  call yesterday in Lagos at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. 2025 Agric and Export Expo.

Represented by his Special Adviser, Mr. Ibrahim Alkali, Kyari decried the rising rate of food imports and stressed the need for increased financing in agriculture to boost local production and exports.

“Nigeria spends over $10 billion annually importing food such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish, and even tomato paste.

“Agriculture already contributes 35 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product, GDP  and employs 35 per cent of our workforce.

“We sit on 85 million hectares of arable land with a youth population of over 70 per cent under the age of 30. Yet Nigeria accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of global agro-exports.

“Currently, the nation earns less than $400 million from agro exports. To build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture,” he said.

Emphasising  the need for innovative financing solutions  to boost agriculture, he said: 

“To build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance agriculture.

Traditional credit systems, though well-intentioned, often suffocate farmers instead of supporting them. “What Nigeria needs are instruments that align with the realities of farming — mechanisms that reward performance, adjust to risk, and align investors with producers. Across the world, innovative financing has transformed agriculture from subsistence to surplus. 

“Nigeria can do the same if we adopt mechanisms such as revenue-sharing finance, agricultural goals with performance triggers, factoring, forward contracts, pay-as-you-harvest models, equity financing, and more.”

Managing Director/CEO, FirstBank Nigeria Limited, in his opening address, said that the  FirstBank Agric & Export Expo stands as a beacon for collaboration, innovation, and sustainable growth.

He said: “The renamed FirstBank Agric & Export Expo reflects our renewed and unwavering commitment to positioning non-oil exports as a transformative force in Nigeria’s economy. “By fostering collaboration, driving innovation and making strategic investments, we can unlock the full potential of our agricultural value chain and open new pathways to shared prosperity. It is my firm belief that the ideas, partnerships and commitments shaped here will lay the foundation for a new era of growth; not only for Nigeria but for Africa as a whole.”

The post FG decries $10bn annual food import bill, urges innovative agric finance appeared first on Vanguard News.