Nigeria's Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit is preparing a draft framework to manage current harvests and increase dry-season food production, the office of Vice-President Kashim Shettima said on Friday. The framework will be submitted to President Bola Tinubu through the Vice-President for review, according to a statement from Marion Moon, Technical Assistant on Agriculture to the President in the Office of the Vice-President. The unit did not specify when the document would reach the President.
The framework emerged from a technical working session held with federal agriculture and food agencies at the State House in Abuja, following a directive from Shettima on Tuesday, October 20, to accelerate strategic interventions in agriculture. Shettima created a technical committee to speed up livestock development and staple crop production nationwide, with wheat as a priority. An earlier meeting between Tinubu and agricultural stakeholders the previous week prompted Tuesday's session, the Vice-President's office said.
The PFSCU identified four key areas for focus: collecting current harvests so farmers receive fair prices and food reaches markets; supporting dry-season production to maintain food supply; providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable households; and strengthening coordination with state governments. The unit stated that farmers face challenges spanning institutions and government levels, including access to water, inputs, finance, markets, and security. Moon said the goal was to unify agency efforts. 'Every agency in this room is already doing important work. Our task is to bring that work together as one sector, with clear roles and a shared plan, so that farmers and families feel the difference,' she said.
Participants in the meetings included the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Livestock Development, and Water Resources and Sanitation, alongside the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, Ministry of Finance Incorporated, National Agricultural Development Fund, National Agricultural Land Development Authority, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, National Agricultural Seeds Council, National Sugar Development Council, and Nigeria Commodity Exchange. Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari said the technical committee's report would undergo review by another committee before reaching the Vice-President and President. The PFSCU said it would engage further with farmer associations, processors, and the private sector in coming days.
For savers and borrowers, lower food prices would ease household spending pressures and potentially reduce inflation-driven pressure on interest rates and currency demand. At a pro-Tinubu youth forum on Monday, Shettima said the President would introduce robust responses to agricultural challenges in coming weeks and that food prices would decline.