Adesina Warns Against Nigeria’s Food Importation, Calls for Agricultural Self-Sufficiency

TAAT has helped Ethiopia become a net exporter of wheat within five years, significantly increased Sudan’s wheat production, and supported Eastern and Southern African countries during prolonged droughts.

The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has warned that Nigeria's decision to allow massive food importation could devastate the country’s agriculture sector. This follows Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari's announcement on July 10 that the Federal Government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas for 150 days.

“Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing,” Adesina told African Primates of the Anglican Church at a retreat in Abuja, Nigeria. He emphasized that the policy could undermine the significant investments and efforts made in Nigeria's agriculture sector.

“Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilize prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilize food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, which will further help stabilize the Naira,” said the African Development Bank president. “Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity,” he added. “Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation.”

Speaking on the theme ‘Food Security and Financial Sustainability in Africa: The Role of the Church,’ Adesina stressed that Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning that a nation dependent on others for food is independent only in name.

Faith and Food Security

The retreat, held in Abuja, gathered clergymen under the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), representing more than 40 million Anglicans across the continent. His Grace, the Most Reverend Henry C. Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), highlighted the gathering as an opportunity for African Anglican leaders to deepen bonds and share collective wisdom.

Emeritus Professor Olugbemiro Jegede told Adesina, “You have the whole of Africa represented here. Every Primate represents a region. Behind these Primates are millions and millions of Anglicans who are listening to us here.”

Noting that nearly a third of the 780 million people worldwide who are hungry are in Africa, Adesina emphasized agriculture’s importance for economic diversification and rural transformation. “Unless we transform agriculture, Africa cannot eliminate poverty,” he insisted.

Transformational Strides

Adesina briefed the Primates on the Bank’s $25 billion program to transform agriculture by providing high-performing agricultural technologies for 40 million farmers, aiming to make Africa food self-sufficient by 2030. He shared the Bank’s successes in mitigating climate change effects through financial investments and its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program.

TAAT has helped Ethiopia become a net exporter of wheat within five years, significantly increased Sudan’s wheat production, and supported Eastern and Southern African countries during prolonged droughts.

For Nigeria, Adesina highlighted collaborations with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, providing $520 million to establish Special Agricultural Processing Zones for value-added agricultural industries. The Bank also provided $134 million to Nigeria for emergency food production, boosting local production of wheat and cassava.

Adesina urged the Nigerian government to leverage the Bank’s investments and support for African farmers, showing greater commitment to achieving food self-sufficiency and incentivizing private sector agribusinesses.

Collaboration and Solutions

The African Development Bank Group and partners are supporting the development of 28 Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in 11 countries, with $4.5 billion mobilized so far.

Speaking on behalf of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa and Bishop of Northern Zambia, the Most Reverend Albert Chama, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Most Reverend Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit, called for greater cooperation between the Bank Group and the Anglican Church. “The African mind must be at the center of solving African problems,” he said. “If the African Development Bank mobilizes resources for the African continent, and the Church also mobilizes resources for holistic transformation, we can achieve a lot working together – and make a difference.”

Proposing solutions for agriculture in Africa, Adesina called for “visionary and passionate leaders who are strategic solution providers and transformational change makers.” He advocated for public policies to end hunger and malnutrition, church-led food banks, investments in commercial farms, climate change advocacy, encouraging young agricultural entrepreneurs, and demanding greater financial accountability from governments.