Nigeria’s Food Security At Risk As Experts Demand Grain Reserves, Irrigation & Climate Resilience
By STELLA JOHNSON OGBOVOVEH
Global food supply concerns expose Nigeria’s agricultural weaknesses
NIGERIA may struggle to withstand another major global food supply shock in 2027 unless the government urgently addresses weaknesses in domestic agricultural production, strategic food reserves and distribution infrastructure.
Agricultural stakeholders have warned that worsening El Niño conditions, declining global grain production and possible supply chain disruptions could intensify the country’s existing food security challenges. Consequently, vulnerable households may face higher food prices, reduced access to essential commodities and deeper hunger.
The warnings come amid concerns raised by the World Bank about the global food security outlook. Stakeholders who examined the implications for Nigeria have therefore called for increased investment in domestic grain production, irrigation, climate-smart agriculture, storage facilities and strategic food reserves.
Their position is that Nigeria must strengthen its capacity to produce and preserve essential food commodities rather than depend excessively on international markets that could become unstable during a global crisis.
Sunday Ezeobiora, President of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), described the country’s preparedness for another major food supply disruption as far below what would be required to protect consumers and agricultural businesses.
He said Nigeria had yet to resolve critical weaknesses affecting productivity, particularly in sectors that depend heavily on locally produced grains.
Poultry industry faces growing exposure to grain shortages
Ezeobiora identified the poultry industry as one of the sectors that could experience immediate consequences from a decline in grain production.
According to him, maize and soybean are essential ingredients in poultry feed, making the industry particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in their availability and prices.
Any climate-related decline in domestic or international grain production, he explained, could increase feed costs and raise the overall expenses of poultry farming. Eventually, producers may transfer those additional costs to consumers through higher prices for eggs and chicken.
Such increases would place additional pressure on households that depend on poultry products as relatively accessible sources of animal protein.
Beyond climate variability, Ezeobiora identified insecurity in farming communities, inadequate irrigation, post-harvest losses, high energy costs and limited access to affordable financing as major constraints on agricultural production.
Poor rural transportation and logistics also compound the problem by making it more difficult and expensive to move agricultural produce from farms to markets.
He therefore called for a deliberate national strategy to expand the production of maize, soybean and sorghum. Such a programme, he said, should promote improved seed varieties, mechanisation, irrigation development and subsidised access to agricultural inputs.
Strategic grain reserves must become a national priority
In addition to expanding production, the PAN president advocated the establishment of adequate strategic grain reserves across the country.
He argued that government should develop the reserves in consultation with stakeholders who depend on the commodities. This would help ensure that emergency releases address genuine shortages without triggering panic buying or unintended disruptions in the market.
A properly managed reserve system could also provide an important buffer when international supplies decline or domestic harvests fall below expectations.
Furthermore, Ezeobiora called for stronger climate-smart agricultural practices to help farmers adapt to changing weather conditions.
He specifically highlighted the need for drought-resistant seeds, improved weather forecasting and effective agricultural extension services. These measures, he said, would help farmers make better production decisions and reduce the risks associated with unpredictable rainfall.
Financing also remains a major concern. According to him, high borrowing costs have forced many poultry farmers to operate below capacity, limiting their ability to expand production and meet growing demand.
He therefore advocated targeted intervention funding for livestock and feed production, alongside measures to improve access to affordable credit.
However, increased financing alone would not resolve the sector’s challenges without improved security. Farmers must be able to access their land safely before they can expand cultivation and increase output.
Storage & transportation gaps worsen food insecurity
Beyond the farm gate, inadequate storage and processing facilities continue to undermine Nigeria’s food security.
Ezeobiora maintained that investments in storage, transportation and processing infrastructure were essential to reducing the large quantities of agricultural produce lost after harvest.
These losses weaken food availability and reduce farmers’ earnings, even when harvests are sufficient to meet significant portions of domestic demand.
Meanwhile, Oyewole Okewole, Senior Associate Consultant at FutuX Agri-consult Limited, warned that Nigeria’s food system lacked sufficient resilience to protect domestic supplies, stabilise prices and safeguard vulnerable households against prolonged international disruptions.
He identified heavy dependence on seasonal rainfall and food imports as major sources of vulnerability. Climate change, he added, was already creating significant challenges for agricultural production.
Nigeria’s exposure also extends beyond finished food imports. The country imports or depends on international markets for some of the ingredients and agricultural inputs required for domestic production. In addition, global commodity and energy prices influence the cost of producing food locally.
Citing the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s September 2026 country brief, Okewole noted that approximately 36.3 million Nigerians were projected to experience acute food insecurity during the June–August 2026 lean season.
The figure, he argued, demonstrates the scale of the country’s existing food security challenge and the need for a coordinated response before another international supply disruption intensifies domestic pressures.
Experts propose a coordinated national food security strategy
Okewole recommended a national response built around three priorities: protecting domestic agricultural production, stabilising food availability and prices, and shielding vulnerable households from the consequences of food inflation.
For agricultural production, he advocated a targeted climate-resilient programme, accelerated irrigation development and an emergency financing facility for agricultural inputs.
He also called for the repositioning of strategic food reserves as a genuine national emergency mechanism. According to him, such reserves should work alongside investments in cold-chain facilities, rural feeder roads and improved rail and road transportation.
These improvements would reduce post-harvest losses, strengthen distribution networks and make food supplies more accessible across different parts of the country.
On household protection, Okewole urged the government to strengthen targeted food assistance and social protection programmes. He stressed that authorities should use updated and verifiable social registers, supported by effective monitoring, to prevent corruption and ensure that assistance reaches intended beneficiaries.
Additionally, he advocated an enforceable food price stabilisation framework that would monitor essential commodity prices, identify emerging shortages early and guide timely releases from strategic reserves.
Food sovereignty & farmer support take centre stage
Agribusiness Strategist Chi Tola Roberts also warned that Nigeria’s greatest weakness was its tendency to approach food insecurity mainly as a price problem rather than address the underlying production challenges.
She argued that the country could no longer depend heavily on imported grains, vulnerable supply chains and rain-fed agriculture while climate change increasingly affects farming conditions.
Roberts therefore called for a deliberate shift towards food sovereignty through stronger domestic production, expanded irrigation, climate-smart farming and improved access to quality seeds and agricultural inputs.
She also advocated local alternatives to imported grains and greater investment in storage, processing and distribution infrastructure.
According to her, Nigeria needs a coordinated national food security emergency strategy that places farmers at the centre of intervention programmes.
Such a framework, she said, should provide targeted production financing, affordable inputs, climate information, extension services and improved security for farming communities. It should also encourage private-sector investment across agricultural value chains.
Roberts further called for stronger strategic food reserves, transparent market mechanisms to moderate extreme price fluctuations and targeted assistance for vulnerable households.
She maintained that agriculture should no longer be treated merely as a seasonal activity but as a national economic security priority.
Business leaders question the adequacy of national reserves
Adding to the concerns, Tunde Banjoko, Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Agric and Agro-Allied Group, said the adequacy of strategic food reserves would determine how effectively Nigeria could withstand a significant decline in global food production.
He questioned whether the country could sustain domestic and industrial consumption during prolonged supply disruptions, particularly because Nigeria already supplements local production with food imports under normal conditions.
According to him, a country anticipating production shortages should have sufficient reserves accumulated before an emergency. However, he expressed uncertainty about Nigeria’s preparedness because of concerns over the quantity of food available in storage.
Banjoko therefore called for an immediate increase in national reserves through the purchase of available agricultural produce, both locally and internationally, while the government simultaneously strengthens domestic production.
He also highlighted the contradiction between recurring food shortages and substantial post-harvest wastage. Citing estimates, he put the value of agricultural produce lost after harvest at between ₦3.5 trillion and ₦14 trillion.
To address the problem, he urged authorities to improve storage and processing capacity rather than wait until supply disruptions have already intensified.
For immediate production support, Banjoko recommended providing irrigation equipment and mechanisation facilities to dry-season farmers. These interventions, he said, would enable them to cultivate short-cycle crops in larger quantities.
He also identified Nigeria’s dams and river basins as underutilised resources that could support expanded irrigation and increase domestic food supplies.
Early investment could determine Nigeria’s food security outlook
The warnings from the agricultural stakeholders point to a common concern: Nigeria’s vulnerability to a global food crisis cannot be addressed through emergency food purchases or price interventions alone.
Instead, the country needs a comprehensive strategy that connects agricultural production with irrigation, financing, security, storage, processing and distribution.
While global supply disruptions could affect many countries, Nigeria’s ability to withstand them will depend largely on how effectively it addresses weaknesses within its own food system.
Consequently, investments in domestic grain production, strategic reserves and climate-resilient agriculture must become immediate priorities.
The anticipated 2027 risks should therefore serve as an early warning rather than a crisis to be addressed after food shortages and price increases have already taken hold.
