Nigeria’s minister of agriculture and meals safety, Abubakar Kyari, mentioned he has requested stronger collaboration between the federal government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to boost agricultural productiveness, promote sustainable growth and improve employment alternatives within the nation.
“On the sidelines of the 2025 World Meals Discussion board, I had a productive bilateral assembly with Dr. QU Dongyu, Director-Basic of the Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) @FAO of the United Nations,” Mr Kyari mentioned in a submit on X (previously twitter) on Wednesday.
The minister mentioned their dialogue centred on firming up FAO’s partnership with Nigeria to bolster agricultural initiatives, notably these geared toward bettering the livelihoods of smallholders throughout the nation.
Barely two years into President Bola Tinubu’s first time period, Nigeria is going through a extreme meals disaster largely fuelled by the abolition of petrol subsidies, a a lot weaker naira ensuing from foreign money devaluations and insecurity in key food-producing states.
Such insurance policies have sharply pushed up the prices of transportation and agricultural inputs.
In the identical vein, devastating flash floods in main agrarian areas over the previous three years have had opposed affect on meals availability and affordability.
To sort out the pattern, the federal government had in latest months unveiled new insurance policies and initiatives to spice up meals manufacturing, drive down costs, and handle the cost-of-living disaster.
“Precedence areas”
Mr Kyari highlighted a number of precedence areas of the engagement he had with the FAO, together with the recharge of the Lake Chad Basin, sustainable irrigation growth, agricultural mechanisation, and the creation of a nationwide farmers’ database.
He restated Nigeria’s request for FAO’s technical and monetary backing for the recharge of the Lake Chad Basin, which he described as essential to restoring agribusiness actions, livelihoods, and meals safety within the area.
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On irrigation, the minister mentioned he referred to as for elevated FAO partnership to broaden water administration programs in a bid to make sure year-round farming and enhance productiveness amongst smallholders.
An enlargement of agricultural mechanisation initiatives in Nigeria to enhance effectivity and worth addition in rural farming communities additionally fashioned a part of the deliberation, Mr Kyari acknowledged.
The minister mentioned he additionally advocated for elevated employment alternatives for certified Nigerians inside FAO Headquarters and its world workplaces in recognition of the nation’s rising function in world meals safety efforts.
He mentioned the FAO director-general reaffirmed the organisation’s dedication to supporting Nigeria’s agricultural priorities and advancing shared objectives of meals safety, local weather resilience, and rural prosperity.
