Interview with Dr Ikechi Agbugba on the challenges facing agricultural production in Nigeria
Dr. Ikechi Agbugba | Contributor on Agribusiness Topics
In this interview with Ehime Alex for the International Center for Investigative Reporting, Ikechi Agbugba, an AClasses contributor on agribusiness topics, delves into the critical challenges facing agricultural production in Nigeria. He highlights the country’s pressing food supply shortages and offers actionable solutions to address these issues.
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Dr. Agbugba, a senior lecturer, researcher, and agricultural economist at the Faculty of Agriculture, Rivers State University, Nigeria, brings his expert knowledge and experience to the conversation, providing invaluable perspectives on how Nigeria can strengthen its agricultural sector. Now, enjoy the full interview below.
In assessing Nigeria’s agriculture production, in which aspect do you think the country failed to prioritize efforts this year?
The high Cost of Inputs has continued to pose a major challenge for both livestock and crop farmers. The cost of farm inputs, especially feeds for livestock has continued to escalate.
This is even more saddening that up till now, Nigeria’s food security situation has been interlinked to a plethora of factors. Truly, agricultural production is inseparable from the conduct of other economic agents, as well as the structure of the food markets.
This year the adverse effect of fuel scarcity and outrageous hike in price has affected virtually all the sectors of Nigeria’s economy and agriculture still stands tall.
The majority of Nigerian farmers (majorly smallholder-based) lack access to affordable capital despite Over time, literature tells us that the agriculture sector employs over 70% of Nigeria’s rural population, but what is more depressing is that farmers’ lack of affordable capital has no doubts stemmed and stifled by high interest rates.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised its benchmark interest rate on 26th November 2024 by 25 basis points to a new record high of 27.5% for the 6th time since this year.
These exorbitant rates make it nearly impossible for farmers who are typically smallholders to secure the needed finance to scale up or expand operations or even adopt modern farming techniques.
Truly, this is a major thread among other aspects in this seemingly tangled fabric of Nigeria’s food insecurity situation.
A recent survey by the United Nations projects that at least 33.1 million people in 26 states and the FCT will face a food and nutrition crisis in 2025. What is your take on this report?
The report corroborates with reality. You do not need expert analysis to understand the gravity of food insecurity in Nigeria. You can easily make contact with this reality in the streets, in markets, in religious centers, and in hospitals, among other centers.
I am dispirited that governance is not striving enough to tackle this issue with the right strategy. All I hear is lip service even in the face of alarming figures from the CBN on interest rates coupled with the widening gap of underemployed citizens, closure of companies, and hike in food prices.
In fact, the deposit interest rate in Nigeria is projected to be around 12.83% in 2025 and 10.83% in 2026. According to the Trading Economics Report, CBN Nigeria’s inflation rate accelerated for the second straight month in October 2024, climbing to a four-month high of 33.9%.
Meanwhile, the economy grew 3.46% annually in the third quarter, its fastest pace in three quarters, driven by the services sector. The naira has depreciated by around 46% against the dollar this year, partly due to efforts to allow it to float after being pegged at an artificially strong rate for years.
It has also been affected by poor liquidity, despite CBN’s attempts to alleviate pressure by supplying dollars to meet domestic demand. There is a relationship between poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition and if something really quick is done, it will still play out badly on the economy.
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The majority of the Nigerian population is poor, in fact, in recent years, a lot has plunged into severe cases of poverty. The report from the survey is timely. Any responsible government will put measures on the ground immediately to avert any disastrous humanitarian crisis by 2025.
The aftermath of devastating floods and insurgency is negatively impacting the food supply in the country. As an agric expert, what should we be doing differently to change the tide?
The government must tackle insecurity head-on. This must not be by kinetic means alone. The government needs to be genuinely honest about dialoguing with these non-state actors to bring about lasting peace in Nigeria.
Some of these insurgents may have germane reasons, such as negligence on the part of the government in delivering the goods of democracy, unemployment, inequality, and economic hardship.
Actions must be taken by governments at all levels to embank rivers in farming communities and dredging water channels were necessary.
Farmers should be encouraged to adopt the principle of insurance. The government should work more with agencies like NIMASA in leveraging on the merits of an early warning notice period to curtail the impact of flooding on farmers.
Stakeholders of Research and Development should develop drought-resistant crops and venture into areas to build and restructure food and agricultural systems as that would encourage partnerships and collaborations between and among educational institutions in Nigeria and that of the global north as highlighted by SDG 17-‘strengthening global partnerships for sustainable development.’
I must underscore that collaboration in initiating some understanding (MoU) or some joint project and grant funding opportunity which could be leveraged in bridging the gaps between research and industry.
Interestingly, I am leading the collaboration between Rivers State University and the University of Rwanda, and the agriculture programs of both institutions are at the fulcrum of the understanding. At the moment, we are working assiduously with partners to empower staff and students and inspire innovation as captured in the MoU.
Do you belong to the school of thought that climate change is not yet major in crop production in Nigeria? Why?
No, I do not belong to such a faction. If climate change is not real, why are people complaining about extreme hotness sometimes and extreme coldness at other times?
For many Nigerians, the climate crisis is a harsh reality. In 2024 alone, a scorching heat wave swept across the country, and the Northern region was hit particularly hard by extreme flooding. Heavy rains have led to flooding in many areas, destroying lives, and infrastructure, and submerging hectares of farmland.
Truly, seasons are shifting, and we now have more of the rains (rainy season) than the dry seasons in Southern Nigeria (especially in Rivers State which is at the heart of the South-South geopolitical zone). Some crop farmers wait longer after sowing their crops for the first rain to hit their farmlands at the end of the dry season.
Farmers are experiencing unpredictable rainfall, which affects the growth of crops like maize, okra, vegetables, cucumber, and garden eggs. They are also battling with new diseases, such as molds, nematodes, and scabs, appearing on vegetables.
Hence, the increasingly high cost of those food items. Farmers are finding it difficult to meet the food demand of the state’s population. These drastic changes in weather patterns cannot be overlooked.
How likely is climate change to become a major concern in Nigeria’s crop production in the next five years?
Majority of the Nigerian farmers are smallholders and totally depend upon the cultural ways of growing crops. Some are averse to modern technologies and resist GMOs. Thus, with little or no technology to buffer the effect of climate change on the part of our largely subsistent farmers, it will lead to food shortages, acute hunger, and cost-push inflation.
It is quite saddening that some prognoses are projecting that temperatures will keep rising, and flood cases will keep heightening. Farmers should expect to see heavy rainfall and rising sea levels and of course, this would result in making coastal communities vulnerable to flooding.
Also, more intense storms could cause more frequent combined sewer overflows which combined wastewater and sewage from multiple drains and buildings. Also, increased water temperatures are bound to occur.
The most immediate impact of climate change on rivers and lakes is expected to be an increase in water temperatures. Other issues that could affect agriculture and farming in the next 5 years include: Increased nutrient loads, among other droughts and more water-related disasters.
Please, I am not a prophet of doom, but I know climate change issues can be excessively deep and entrenching.
How can the government make farming attractive for the youth whose thoughts of leaving the country remain convincing amid the frustrating unemployment?
I wish to reckon that the previous government made great efforts in proposing policies to advance agriculture. However, along the line, they failed to prioritize favourable policies that would advance the economy through the sector.
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I wish to recommend the following approaches which align with the Brain Re-engineering initiative I developed for rebranding agriculture for the youth to regain their interest in agriculture.
- Provide a well-structured plan, program, and agenda on youth capacity development and training on modern farming techniques and agribusiness management.
- Create awareness and further promote agricultural technology options for youths to support their knowledge, as well as build their skills on digital solutions for farming, such as drone technology and mobile apps.
- Provide financial options and support for youths in the form of low-interest loans, grants, and crowdfunding platforms.
- Provide access to land that would enhance land policy implementation that promises affordable leasing options or long-term land rights for young farmers.
- Establish partnerships to foster collaborations with private sector and international agencies to create opportunities for the youth.
- Improve security nets to ensure the safety of farmers’ lives and properties. This will not just enhance adequate farmers’ security but will guarantee an effective and peaceful cultivation of farms by the farmers.
- Stimulate cooperative farming and would nonetheless, offer farmers the opportunity to enjoy the pros of cooperation such as sharing the cost of machinery and marketing their produce.
- Establish government-reserved farmer states for a period of time
Indeed, the Brain Re-engineering Model (BRM) revolves around 5 pillars which are: change of perception, ideation and entrepreneurship, technology amalgamation, sustainability and circular economy; and social equity in public policy.
Adapting the BRM implies that the Federal Government of Nigeria would enforce policies that would favour farmers in such a way that the youths would be attracted to farming as it promises to improve their quality of life to achieve self-sustained growth in the sector. In so doing, the agriculture sector’s potential to contribute to her GDP would be somewhat significant.
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