By lucy Ogalue/Fortune Abang

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, says persistent policy inconsistency is a major obstacle to the country’s economic and agricultural development.

Sanusi said this during a joint session of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) organised on the sidelines of the Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja.

The event is with the theme: “Investing in Innovative Food Systems Solutions in Challenging Contexts.”

He said Nigeria’s biggest problem remained the lack of continuity in government policies and failure by Nigeria’s civil service to serve as an institutional memory to sustain reforms beyond political transitions.

“The biggest problem I have seen with our country is the lack of policy continuity. Every time you have an election, it is as if everybody starts on a clean slate.

“A civil service that should preserve institutional memory has either by design or default failed to do so, so every few years, we come back discussing the same issues,” he said.

Sanusi recalled how, during his tenure as CBN Governor, he initiated a study of six agricultural value chains to improve lending to the sector and promote investments in local production.

He cited the tomato value chain in Kano as an example of how well-intentioned reforms collapsed due to poor follow-through.

“We discovered 13 tomato varieties suitable for paste production, but outdated laws blocked their commercialisation.

“We had to fight for policy amendments, yet before the reforms could mature, the project was abandoned,” he stated.

According to him, Nigeria must focus on building strong agricultural value chains that attract private investment rather than relying solely on government funding.

“There is not enough money in government to fix every farmer’s challenge. What government can do is create confidence for private investment to thrive,” he added.

Sanusi further warned against frequent policy reversals such as the recent relaxation of food import restrictions, which he said have discouraged investors and bankrupted farmers.

“In trying to bring down food prices, we wiped out the profits of producers and created non-performing loans in banks. If we keep changing direction, we’ll never fix poverty or attract investment,” he said.

Sanusi urged the government to link agricultural policies to long-term development goals, emphasising that policy consistency was vital for fighting poverty, ending insecurity, and building an inclusive economy.

“Fixing the value chain is the best way to deal with poverty in northern Nigeria. But we must ensure the next government does not start from stage one again,” he added.

Also speaking, Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa said that agriculture remained Nigeria’s most reliable sector.

“In the last GDP report, oil contributed only 4.17 per cent while agriculture accounted for over 26 per cent. This tells you where our real strength lies as a nation,” he said.

He said that Nasarawa was taking practical steps to show commitment beyond policy statements.

“We identified 10,000 hectares for cultivation and started with 2,000 hectares. After the first harvest, we sold our produce directly to Olam, and that experience showed us the viability of large-scale farming.

“We have since expanded by another 1,300 hectares, clearing new land and investing in irrigation and mechanisation,” he said.

The governor added that the state was leveraging existing federal storage facilities in Lafia to reduce post-harvest losses and enhance food preservation.

“Most of our harvests go straight to the Lafia silos before being sold to major processors like Olam.

“We want to show that government can be a real player in the agricultural chain, not just a regulator.

”Every state in Nigeria has agricultural potential; what we need is seriousness and policy stability to unlock it,” he said.

Also, Gov. Umar Radda of Katsina State reiterated the need to fix the seed system in the country.

“Nigeria cannot talk about agricultural progress without first fixing the seed system.

“What most of our farmers are planting today are grains, not real seeds. Without good seeds, you cannot improve yield, no matter how much you invest.

“In Katsina, we are working tirelessly to ensure we produce quality seeds locally so our farmers can increase productivity,” he said.

He emphasised the challenges of fragmented landholding in the North and called for smarter agricultural innovations to boost output.

“Because of our land tenure system, farmlands are scattered into small plots. The only way out is to combine improved seeds with modern technology and innovation.

“That is how you raise productivity and make farming profitable again,” he said.

Radda also echoed concerns raised by Sanusi on inconsistent agricultural policies, stressing the need for value addition.

“Right now, our producers are struggling to break even because policy inconsistency discourages investors.

“We must strengthen the entire value chain through agro-processing zones. When we add value to what we produce, we create jobs, improve farmers’ income, and boost the economy,” he added.

Also speaking, the Vice President of Olam Nigeria, Mr Ade Adefeko, announced that the company was expanding its investments in local agricultural processing to boost Nigeria’s value chain development.

“We do not look at challenges; we look at opportunities.

“We are investing 45million dollars to set up a soy crushing facility in Ekiti State, in addition to our existing operations in Kaduna and Nasarawa,” Adefeko said.

He said Olam’s investments reflected confidence in Nigeria’s agricultural potential and called for government policies that encourage both domestic and foreign investors to expand production. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Lucy Ogalue/Fortune Abang

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have called for increased investment in innovative and production-oriented food systems in Nigeria.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Mohamed Fall, said this during a joint session of both organisations on the sidelines of the Nigeria Economic Summit in Abuja.

The event is themed: ” Investing in Innovative Food Systems Solutions in Challenging Contexts.”

According to Fall, increasing the investments will strengthen resilience and address food insecurity in fragile regions of Nigeria and across Africa.

The UN coordinator said food security was not only about agriculture, but also about peace, dignity, and stability.

He said that farmers in conflict-prone areas continued to show courage, in spite of adversity, stressing that the resilience of rural communities remained a sign of hope for national recovery.

“What we discuss today, food, innovation, resilience is not only about agriculture. It is about peace, it is about stability, it is about dignity of the people that we are serving.

“It is about the millions of Nigerians, who will work, feed this nation and feed even above this nation.

“Across the North, from Yobe to Kano, from Maiduguri to Katsina, we witness courage in the face of adversity.

“Farmers returning to their fields, women’s cooperative building market and young innovators creating smart logistics against all odds. Even in hard soil, resistance is taking root,” he said.

Fall said that a joint study by the WFP, AfDB, and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) showed that food systems in fragile contexts were not broken, but unfinished.

The UN representative said the study, therefore, called for more trust, investment, and partnerships to complete them.

According to him, Nigeria’s recent progress under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro-Pocket, which has tripled wheat production within one year, demonstrates what coordinated policy and investment can achieve.

He affirmed that the UN system would continue to support Nigeria’s food security agenda through programmes that reduced post-harvest losses, boost local production, and linked farmers to markets.

Dr Abdul Kamara, Director-General of the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, who moderated the session, said addressing food insecurity required moving from short-term humanitarian interventions to long-term investment-driven solutions.

Kamara said that in spite of conflict and climate challenges, Nigeria still possessed huge agricultural potential that could drive economic growth, self-reliance, and improved nutrition.

“Africa must automatically move from fragmented interventions and commitments to comprehensive, action-oriented, and life-scale investments.

“These efforts should integrate humanitarian response with long-term resilience and economic growth, particularly supporting small families.

“This goal requires innovative financing mechanisms, strong national ownership, breakthroughs in technology and policy to unlock Africa’s potential, especially in the most fragile regions,” Kamara said.

Kamara recalled that the message was also reaffirmed last week at the Africa Development Bank’s Africa Resilience Forum.

He said the new joint study by the WFP and AfDB had mapped investment opportunities in Northern Nigeria’s food systems, identifying areas for value-chain development, production enhancement, and private sector participation.

According to Kamara, over 10 billion dollars has been spent on humanitarian interventions in Northern Nigeria since the onset of conflict.

He said that similar resources, if invested in production and resilience, could have transformed the region’s food security landscape.

He urged development partners, government, and the private sector to co-invest in sustainable solutions that would expand food production, strengthen storage and processing facilities, and increase access to finance for farmers.

Stakeholders at the event reaffirmed their commitment to advancing resilient food systems through inclusive investments that would promote peace, create jobs, and ensure long-term food security in Nigeria.

Edited by Mark Longyen