The federal government is stepping up support for farmers and efforts to improve food distribution as the harvest season approaches, with transportation, logistics, levies and market access identified as key factors driving food prices.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Friday while presiding over the seventh meeting of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) Steering Committee at the State House, Abuja.
The meeting focused on measures to support farmers, improve the movement of food from producing areas to consumers, strengthen strategic reserves and direct government interventions to areas where they would have the greatest impact.
Shettima said the government must increase Nigeria’s capacity to produce enough food locally while ensuring that households can access food at affordable prices.
“Under President Tinubu’s leadership, the government must continue to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to produce more of its own food while ensuring that Nigerian families have access to food at affordable prices,” he said.
He stressed the need for stronger coordination among the Federal and state governments, the private sector and other institutions to turn the administration’s food security objectives into measurable results.
The committee also examined the role of transportation and logistics in determining the final cost of food, with members calling for improvements in the movement of agricultural produce between farming communities and major consuming centres.
They also considered the impact of levies and market access on food prices, highlighting the need to remove bottlenecks that increase the cost of moving farm produce to markets.
The Executive Secretary of the PFSCU, Marian Moon, said government needed reliable data to identify emerging pressures in the food system and respond before they became more serious.
“Our focus is to ensure that the Government has the evidence to act early and precisely, supporting farmers, improving the movement of food, strengthening preparedness and directing interventions to where they can make the greatest difference,” Moon said.
Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi said agricultural policies should continue to focus on farmers by improving irrigation, access to inputs, financing, production support and markets.
The committee also reviewed the relationship between domestic food production and trade policy.
It noted that trade measures could complement local production where verified supply gaps exist, but said such measures must be considered alongside strategic reserves, prevailing market conditions and the need to maintain incentives for Nigerian farmers and agribusinesses.
The PFSCU also reviewed the resilience of the country’s food system, including the use of data and intelligence to identify emerging production, market, nutrition and security risks.
It said government interventions would increasingly be targeted at states, markets and communities where available evidence shows the greatest need.
The meeting further reviewed progress on major food-system initiatives, including the $500 million Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth Programme (AGROW), the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism, the National Agro-Productivity System and the National Food and Nutrition Crisis Preparedness Framework.
According to the PFSCU, the design and coordination phase of AGROW has been completed and transferred to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and participating states for implementation.
The unit said the initiatives would help the government understand farmers’ production plans, monitor output during the farming season, anticipate risks and improve coordination between federal and state interventions.
With the harvest season approaching, the government’s focus is shifting beyond production to the movement of food from farms to consumers, an area stakeholders say will be critical to determining whether increased harvests translate into lower and more stable food prices.
