What are your plans to boost food production and support farmers through mechanized farming?
On improving food production for Nigeria, my plan expands large-scale irrigation systems, dams and boreholes, for year-round farming, encourages commercial agriculture alongside smallholder development, and deploys Agro-Rangers to secure farmland against attacks. I will prioritize farm-to-market rural feeder roads under public-private partnerships, establish regional agro-processing zones near farming clusters, and deploy off-grid solar cold-storage facilities to eliminate post-harvest spoilage. I will also put Nigeria's smallholder farmers at the center of agricultural policy, strengthening local production, stabilizing food prices, and reducing dependence on imports, while integrating smallholder farmers as outgrowers, rural employers, and producers of specialty and niche products. I will elevate food security to the National Security Council agenda, align federal, state, and local strategies under a unified national framework, and establish strategic reserves and emergency systems, including national and regional food reserves and rapid response mechanisms for food shocks and price volatility. I will strengthen the linkages between farmers, processors, and markets, improve rural-urban logistics and transport infrastructure, and support agro-processing zones and local value addition. I will also put abandoned water dams across federal, state, and local levels back into use, enabling year-round farming for smallholder farmers, and invest in aggregation centres, warehouses, and cold chain systems to reduce post-harvest losses.
On mechanized farming, yes, I intend to increase Nigeria's agricultural mechanization to significantly improve productivity. This comes alongside targeted investment in inputs, extension services, and market access, matching the right policy tools to the needs of different categories of farmers. My policy also deploys a direct e-wallet input delivery system to provide subsidized fertilizers, high-yield seeds, and pest protection directly to verified smallholders, bypassing middlemen, while expanding low-interest agricultural loans via the Bank of Agriculture.
