By Abbanobi -Eku Onyeka
The Senate has called on the Federal Government (FG) to intervene urgently to protect millions of Nigerian farmers facing severe hardship caused by plummeting agricultural produce prices coupled with soaring costs of farm inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides.
While waivers and special permits for large‑scale food imports have lowered consumer prices, they have simultaneously depressed farm‑gate prices, leading to massive post‑harvest losses.
Farmers have however continued to pay “extremely high” prices for essential inputs, eroding profitability, while smallholder farmers, who constitute the backbone of Nigeria’s food production, risk losing their sole source of income, potentially triggering reduced domestic output, rural economic stagnation and heightened food insecurity.
Therefore, increased reliance on imported food commodities could undermine national food sovereignty, disrupt local value chains and expose the economy to global price volatility.
Senate therefore resolves that there be emergency intervention package to design and implement a comprehensive support package to cushion farmers’ losses and stabilise household incomes. The Senate also resolves that there be
benchmark minimum price framework, so as to establish guaranteed off‑take prices for major commodities, enabling government purchase directly from farmers at set rates.
They equally agree that there be input subsidies, so as to introduce broad‑based subsidies for fertilizers and other critical farm inputs, prioritise funding for storage facilities, rural roads, processing centres and irrigation systems to cut post‑harvest losses, as well as review import waivers, in order to adjust current import waiver and permit policies to ensure Nigerian produce can compete fairly with imported goods.
The motion was sponsored by *Distinguished Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, representing Gombe‑Central Senatorial District.
The Senate also emphasized the need for coordinated action among MDAs, state governments, commodity boards and agricultural cooperatives to secure fair pricing, improve market linkages and safeguard the nation’s food security.
