Nigeria unveils 10-year strategic action plan to revolutionise agriculture, youth innovation
Abdullateef Fowewe
At a high-level dialogue in Addis Ababa during the United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake, Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima announced a bold 10-year Strategic Action Plan (2026–2035) aimed at transforming the nation’s agricultural sector through youth-led innovation and strategic partnerships.
According to a statement obtained from Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications (Office of The Vice President), Shettima declared, “A nation that is prepared for the future is not known by the promises it makes but by the place it gives to its youth in shaping those promises. To see African youths leading the charge in this essential sector speaks more eloquently than any speech.”
The Plan aligns with the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Kampala Declaration and seeks to boost food security, agro-industrialization, and economic growth across Nigeria.
Key elements include robust public-private partnerships, cross-sector youth engagement, and an initial ₦1.5 trillion ($1 billion) recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture to provide loans up to ₦1 million directly to young farmers and agricultural groups.
“This is not charity. It is strategic inclusion. It is resilience engineered into policy,” Shettima emphasised.
Ongoing initiatives cited by the Vice President encompass collaborations with the Netherlands, CGIAR, and IITA to empower 10,000 youths—nearly half women—across innovative agricultural hubs. Large-scale investments in mechanization, irrigation, and greenhouse expansion are underway, including deployment of 10,000 tractors in partnership with John Deere over five years, targeting over 550,000 hectares and farming households.
Shettima reaffirmed Nigeria’s shift towards agro-processing and value addition to reduce raw commodity exports and strengthen local economies. The forthcoming Plan also prioritises training, mentorship, and a robust monitoring framework, characterizing it as “not a sprint but a generational relay requiring collective action and unwavering commitment.”
Further, Shettima announced Nigeria’s $538 million commitment to the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme, which aims to attract $1 billion in investments by 2027, reduce post-harvest losses by 80%, and create over 785,000 jobs across targeted regions.
This flagship initiative is developed in partnership with multilateral institutions including AfDB, IFAD, and the Islamic Development Bank.
Addressing food security challenges, Shettima highlighted the Tinubu administration’s State of Emergency on Food Security, focusing on reactivating 500,000 hectares of arable land, strategic food reserves, and expanded seed and extension services.
He also stressed the necessity for security reforms to ensure farmers’ access to lands and called for international collaboration on climate resilience, irrigation, and data infrastructure, concluding, “Food security is the trust anchor of peace.”
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed echoed the urgency, warning of worsening global malnutrition and emphasizing the need for transformational rather than short-term solutions. “We need coordination as a people, not just bureaucracies,” she said, lauding Nigeria’s integration of resilience into its national strategy.
