In 2025, food supplies improved due to increased imports and bumper harvests, but farmers suffered huge losses due to high production costs and low prices.
Ifeanyi Okeleke, CEO of CanFrancis Farms Limited, said, “In 2025 we saw food prices decline across Nigeria, especially in urban areas. With the high cost of inputs, many farmers suffered huge losses, with some leaving the sector.”
From Benue to Kaduna, farmers said falling prices had wiped out their earnings, deepening rural poverty and threatening next year's food supplies.
Ben Ayua, a rural farmer from Gwere East, Benue state, said the crash was good for consumers but devastating for farmers, already weakened by banditry, high input prices and declining farmgate rates.
He told BusinessDay that most farmers bought fertilizers and herbicides at peak prices at the beginning of the year, but sold their crops at prices 'far below' the cost of production.
Also read: Banditry, kidnapping, conflict tax Nigeria's food systems
Other challenges
But this was not the only challenge. Climate variability disrupted planting and harvesting cycles, floods affected some food-producing states and erratic rainfall affected others.
Insecurity in key agricultural areas has limited access to agricultural land, displaced farming communities and increased production risks.
Access to finance remained unequal. Although intervention funds were available, many farmers faced delays, limited coverage and high transaction costs.
Weak storage, processing and logistics infrastructure continued to contribute to post-harvest losses, reducing effective supply and pushing prices higher in urban markets during lean periods.
These pressures were accompanied by continuing food security concerns. Population growth, income shortfalls and regional instability have left millions of households vulnerable, adding urgency to reforms beyond seasonal production gains.
progress report
But it was not all bad news. Policy reforms under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security played a central role in improved food supply. The focus shifted from emergency responses to building flexible systems capable of maintaining production, improving quality, and supporting market integration.
Priority was given to legal and regulatory reforms to strengthen standards, reduce rejection of Nigerian produce in export markets, and attract investment in agricultural processing and storage.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Abubakar Kyari said the administration's approach to 2025 is deliberate and systemic.
“Our focus has been on increasing production, stabilizing markets, and building resilient food systems that can withstand climate, security and economic shocks,” he said.
According to him, agriculture should provide jobs, income and industrial development as well as food security.
The livestock sub-sector was also given renewed attention. Policy actions targeted modernization, animal health improvement, and value chain development. Programs focused on breeding, pasture management and veterinary services recorded early profits, boosting productivity and strengthening investor confidence.
Also read: Insurance looks to bridge the finance gap as climate risks threaten food supplies
Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, underlined the importance of institutional reforms.
“A strong and robust legal framework is vital for agriculture. It provides the basis for land ownership, access to finance and proper regulation of inputs such as seeds and fertilizers,” he said.
He said aligning the standards would improve competitiveness and restore confidence in Nigerian agricultural exports.
Farmers and development partners acknowledged the progress while calling for policy stability.
Immediate Past President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabiru Ibrahim, said better policy direction is beginning to be seen at the agricultural level.
“What farmers need most is continuity and timely support. When inputs come on time and policies are stable, farmers respond with increased production,” he said.
Women farmers also reported gradual improvements in access to programs and recognition of their role in food systems.
One representative, requesting anonymity, said that women farmers are at the heart of food production at the grassroots level, adding that direct access to aid has an immediate impact on food availability.
Development partners also expressed similar views.
Hussein Gadain, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) country representative in Nigeria, said a renewed focus on strengthening food systems and supporting smallholders is beginning to yield results.
“Building resilience for smallholder farmers is central to sustainable food security, and the progress recorded demonstrates the value of coordinated action,” he said.
but problems persist
Daniel Onyejuwa, an economist and head of the department of economics at Glorious Vision University in Edo State, said the current softening of prices reflects a short-term supply improvement rather than a fundamental reset of cost structures.
“Inflation in Nigeria is largely cost-driven, linked to production challenges, foreign exchange volatility, labor costs and weak infrastructure,” he said.
He said transportation and logistics remain a major pressure point in the food system, especially for urban centres.
“When trucks spend days on bad roads or face higher fuel costs, that expense is transferred directly to food prices. Transportation and logistics costs are one of the biggest drivers of food inflation,” he said.
Onyejuwa also pointed to post-harvest losses and inadequate storage facilities as factors undermining price stability.
According to him, most of the agricultural produce is perishable, forcing farmers to sell early while absorbing high logistics costs due to poor roads and fuel prices.
While acknowledging the improvement in rice production, he said the supply is still less than the national demand.
“Local production is improving, but it still falls short of consumption needs. Until this gap is closed, prices will decline during the harvest season but will remain relatively high over time,” he said.
Mixed signals from markets in 2025 highlight both progress and still work ahead.
Although softening prices provided temporary relief, underlying pressures from infrastructure shortage, energy costs and logistics inefficiencies remain. What was a source of excitement for consumers became a pressure point for farmers as they faced higher production costs and lower food prices.
What 2025 ultimately demonstrated is that agriculture responds quickly to coordinated action. Improved input access, expanded production, improved macroeconomic conditions and targeted interventions together stabilized supplies and controlled prices.
At the same time, the limits of short-term reforms became apparent, reinforcing the need for continued investment in roads, storage, energy, irrigation, and financing.
Nigeria's agriculture sector in 2025 marks a shift from crisis response to structured recovery.
