Soaring Input Costs Threaten Nigeria’s Food Security, Experts Warn
Rising Costs of Fertilisers and Seeds Threaten Food Security in Nigeria
AS Nigeria enters 2026, experts and stakeholders in the agricultural sector are raising alarms over escalating input costs, warning that the country could slide into a preventable food crisis if urgent measures are not taken. Fertilisers, improved seeds, agrochemicals, fuel, and machinery have become prohibitively expensive, squeezing margins for farmers and discouraging investment across the value chain.
Despite moderation in food prices in local markets, analysts caution that the relief is superficial, masking deeper structural challenges in production. Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), describes the current cost of farm inputs as “prohibitively high” and calls for urgent intervention to avoid reversing gains in food security achieved over the past decade.
“Price collapses destroy incentives to farm, reduce production over time, and worsen rural poverty,” Yusuf warns. He advocates a structured approach combining price stabilisation, buffer stock reforms, storage and logistics investment, expanded processing, structured trading, financing solutions, and insurance mechanisms to protect farmers’ incomes.
On-the-Ground Impact
Northern Nigeria has already felt the effects. Sani Danladi, National Secretary of the National Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NATPAN), says that although farmers recorded bumper harvests this season, the crash in commodity prices has rendered production largely unsustainable.
“You cannot justify buying a bag of fertiliser at ₦50,000 and selling a bag of maize at ₦20,000,” Danladi explains. He warns that unless input costs are reduced, farmers may retreat from production, increasing Nigeria’s reliance on imports—a scenario the country cannot sustain given foreign exchange constraints and population growth.
Agribusiness analyst Mogaji Africanfarmer notes that fertiliser prices have risen sharply from around ₦35,000 last year to ₦60,000–₦70,000 per bag in many locations. Crops like maize, which require seven to ten bags of fertiliser per hectare, are being scaled back by farmers, leading to a projected shortfall in output.
The failure to adequately store surplus grains due to limited state-owned silos and cold storage facilities has further exposed farmers to losses. Mogaji also highlights that insecurity in farming regions and falling incomes are discouraging investment, while adulteration of inputs could worsen if quality control is not enforced.
Systemic Challenges and Policy Gaps
Other stakeholders echo these concerns. Prince Oyewumi Oyedele Oyetunde, Editor-in-Chief of Farmers Choice Magazine, points to high fertiliser and fuel costs, combined with insecurity, as suppressing agricultural output. Similarly, Anibe Achimugu, President of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), notes that tight monetary conditions and high benchmark interest rates limit access to affordable credit for mechanisation, processing, and input financing.
Austine Gbenga Adeniba, COO of Eliakim Integrated Services Limited, adds that poor rural road networks, inadequate cold storage, and slow mechanisation are worsening post-harvest losses. While output of staple crops such as rice, maize, sorghum, cassava, and millet has increased, the sustainability of these gains is under threat due to rising costs of seeds, fertilisers, and fuel, according to agribusiness expert Aolat Idowu-Agbelekale.
Urgent Call to Action
Analysts stress that Nigeria’s agricultural sector requires immediate support to stabilise farmer incomes, reduce input costs, and strengthen storage and logistics systems. Without strategic intervention, they warn, the country risks reversing the hard-won improvements in food security and rural livelihoods.
“Reducing the cost of inputs and ensuring access to affordable credit must be treated as a core food security strategy,” Yusuf concludes. “Without it, Nigeria’s agricultural transformation remains elusive.”
