By Rukayat Moisemhe
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector have called for stronger collaboration among farmers, processors, financiers, logistics operators and markets to build a resilient domestic food production system.
They made the call on Tuesday in Lagos at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) agriculture advocacy roundtable with theme: “Unlocking Nigeria’s Agriculture Supply Chain for a Resilient Domestic Production System”.
The stakeholders identified gaps in storage, logistics, processing, financing and market access as significant investment opportunities capable of strengthening domestic food production and creating value across the economy.
Ms Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, said many of the challenges facing agriculture were not necessarily production-related, but businesses yet to attain sufficient scale.
She said Nigeria’s agricultural challenges could not be addressed through isolated interventions in production, financing, processing or distribution, stressing the need for an integrated supply chain.
Olusanya said the disconnect between production and markets often meant that farmers, processors, investors, transporters and consumers operated without sufficient coordination.
According to her, a farmer may have the land and willingness to produce and a market may exist for the commodity, yet significant challenges persist in connecting production to the market.
She said such challenges included aggregation, quality control, financing, transportation, storage, post-harvest losses and the availability of organised markets.
Olusanya said the state’s experience through its “Produce for Lagos” initiative had demonstrated the importance of deliberately connecting high-production states with major consumption centres.
“Lagos has enormous demand for food, Benue has enormous production potential, and it seemed perfectly sensible that we should sit together and work out how one could serve the other better,” she said.
The commissioner, however, noted that the relationship required more than simply moving food from one state to another.
According to her, thousands of farmers need to be organised, their produce aggregated, quality standardised, transactions financed, and commodities transported efficiently over long distances.
She said organised markets must also be available at the destination to receive the produce.
Olusanya said government’s role should be to create an enabling environment for private-sector participation, rather than attempting to directly handle every activity in the agricultural value chain.
“There is money to be made in keeping food cold, in moving it more efficiently, in aggregation, storage, processing and packaging, in providing better information about what is available and where it is needed, and even in finding commercial uses for what we currently describe as waste,” she said.
Mr Abimbola Olashore, President, NBCC, said building a resilient domestic production system required looking beyond agricultural production to the efficiency of the entire supply chain.
Olashore said gaps in finance, transportation, storage, processing and market access continue to drive up costs, reduce productivity and worsen post-harvest losses.
He called for stronger collaboration among farmers, processors, distributors, financial institutions, logistics providers, technology firms and markets.
The NBCC president also advocated greater investment in storage, processing, transportation and cold-chain infrastructure to reduce losses and improve the movement of agricultural products from farms to consumers.
He said technology, including digital platforms, data systems, mechanisation, climate-smart practices and traceability systems, could help address structural inefficiencies in the sector.
Mr Babatunde Odunayo, Senior Manager, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Rev 360 and E-Invoicing, said fiscal reforms were being implemented to support investment in local processing and supply-chain resilience.
Odunayo said agricultural enterprises involved in crop production, livestock and primary agro-processing could access tax incentives, including an initial five-year tax exemption, with additional relief subject to applicable provisions.
He added that qualifying agricultural businesses could benefit from capital allowance incentives, while essential agricultural inputs and equipment were exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT) under the applicable tax framework.
‘The NRS is also implementing digital reforms to simplify registration, filing and tax payment processes for businesses,” he said.
Mr Abubakar Bello, Managing Director, Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), said inadequate storage, cold-chain systems and rural transport remained major constraints to agricultural productivity.
He was represented by Ms Daniella Jarikre-Ikazoboh, Assistant General Manager and Head, Lagos Regional Office.
Bello said limited processing capacity meant that much of Nigeria’s agricultural produce was exported or traded in raw form, limiting opportunities for value addition, employment and foreign exchange earnings.
He added that NEXIM was supporting the transition from raw commodity production to value-added exports through financing, risk-sharing and export development initiatives.
“The bank’s interventions covered processing lines, packaging, warehouses and quality-control equipment across value chains including cocoa, cashew, sesame, ginger and shea,” he said.
Bello also called for the development of special agro-industrial processing zones, cold-storage hubs and rural feeder roads through public-private partnerships.
He urged Nigeria and the UK to deepen cooperation in agricultural technology, greenfield financing and trade arrangements, while encouraging lenders and development partners to expand blended financing for producers and processors.
He said financing should be linked to measurable production, sustainability and market-access outcomes to ensure that interventions translated into commercially viable agricultural ecosystems.
Bello restated that NEXIM remained committed to partnering government, financial institutions and agribusinesses to finance and de-risk Nigeria’s non-oil exports. (NAN)
Edited by Folasade Adeniran
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