Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has revealed that Nigeria recorded the production of over 2.5 million metric tonnes of food under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket Project within four years, with an estimated market value of N2.31 trillion.
Abdullahi made the disclosure on Wednesday in Orozo, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, during the opening of a two day stakeholders review and preparatory workshop on a modified implementation framework for the programme.
He said the intervention delivered a total of 2,536,184 metric tonnes of agricultural produce across four planting seasons, describing the outcome as a significant boost to national food supply and a contributing factor to the gradual moderation of food prices across the country.
The minister explained that the project was introduced under the Federal Government’s Food Security Emergency Support Programme to address supply gaps and strengthen national food and nutrition security.
According to him, the scheme focuses on six key staple crops namely rice, maize, wheat, sorghum, soybean and cassava.
He noted that the impact of the programme is already being felt in improved food availability, while efforts are ongoing to reduce the high cost of agricultural inputs faced by farmers. Abdullahi reaffirmed that agriculture remains central to the agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, stressing that the declaration of a state of emergency on food and nutrition security reflects a firm commitment to making food affordable and accessible to Nigerians.
The minister also announced that new agricultural interventions are set to begin, including a loan supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the rollout of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme Phase Two.
He explained that the JICA supported initiative would focus on rice, maize, soybean and cassava production, while NAGS 2.0 would concentrate on wheat and rice starting from the 2026 wet season.
For the 2025 and 2026 dry season, support would be provided for rice, maize and cassava cultivation across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Abdullahi said the workshop was organised to review experiences from previous implementation phases, identify operational gaps and adopt innovative approaches that would improve transparency, efficiency and impact.
He added that the revised framework was developed in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, said the large turnout of stakeholders highlighted the relevance of the programme to the country’s food security goals.
Ogunbiyi explained that the engagement was aimed at assessing the strengths and shortcomings of past cycles and validating a new framework designed to enhance collaboration among the project secretariat, the Bank of Agriculture and other stakeholders.
He disclosed that the new framework features an integrated ICT driven platform to clearly define responsibilities and improve coordination among all actors involved in implementation.
He urged participants to offer honest and practical contributions that would help build a more effective system and deliver sustainable outcomes.
