The prices of food in crash: the long -term solution

In 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu granted renunciation of the duty for the import of key food products such as rice, corn, wheat, sorghum and others. This decision was intended to face high food prices and actually led to a significant drop in food prices.

On May 15, 2025, the president of the BUA group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, announced that his company is intensifying the efforts to further reduce the prices of rice and other essential raw materials. While this gesture can appear patriotic and laudable, raises critical questions: is Abdul Samad a farmer? Should these prices and availability of food not come from real farmers and from those directly involved in food production?

To be honest, the enormous and often irrational accumulation of food products by Midlemen has created artificial scarcity and price increases, which may have pushed the intervention of the government and the declaration of Abdul Samad. However, these efforts, although well intentioned, highlight a deeper and more systemic problem that cannot be solved only by import.

The current government approach, focused on the crash of food prices through imports, is damaging local farmers and in the end unsustainable.

While the reduction in food prices is essential for national food safety and the well -being of Nigerian normal, the path to achieve this must be rooted in enhancing local producers. Farmers are the real drivers of food convenience. Without supporting them, any temporary relief caused by food imports “will collapse” the local economy under the weight of neglected domestic agriculture.

President Tinubu should give priority to policies that strengthen local agricultural ability. This includes the granting of dice exemptions not only for imported foods, but above all for agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, equipment and agrochemicals. Support local agrochemical manufacturers and agromerchant companies will increase productivity and reduce dependence on foreign inputs.

In addition, it is essential to provide fictionalis with easy access to loans at affordable prices. Many small farmers do not have the capital to invest in modern tools or expand their operations. Through targeted funding and solid extension services, the government can trigger the full potential of the agricultural sector of Nigeria. However, many farmers and officials have abused numerous government incentives well intended for agri -food activities.

If current policies continue to encourage food importance compared to local production, the consequences could be terrible. The economy can suffer and Nigeria’s food security will become dangerously dependent on foreign nations. This dependence not only undermines national sovereignty, but also exposes the country to the shocks of the global agricultural market.

Agriculture remains an important sector of the Nigerian economy. Farmers contribute approximately 25% to the Nation GDP. It is also the largest employer, with over 25 million people, about 30.1% of the total workforce engaged in the sector. According to the organization for nutrition and agriculture (FAO), over 70% of Nigerians participate in agriculture in some form.

Clearly, supporting local agriculture does not only concern food, these are means of subsistence, national development and economic stability.

The cheapest food prices are really crucial for the survival of Nigeria, but must be reached in the right way, through a robust, self -sufficient and guided food production at local level. Supporting and resizing large medium -scale agriculture throughout the country will naturally bring to lower prices, eliminate warden, increase food exports and align with the “Nigeria First” policy of the Tinubu administration.

Food import is a short -term fixing, now it’s time to move on to long -term solutions,

Putting farmers at the center of the policies and food programs of the government of President Tinubu