Senate Takes Steps To Protect Farmers From Price Collapse

On Tuesday, the Senate moved to safeguard Nigerian farmers from plunging produce prices and rising input costs, calling on the Federal Government to subsidise fertilisers and reinstate commodity boards to stabilise agricultural markets.

The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), which highlighted the growing gap between declining farm-gate prices and persistently high costs of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and insecticides. Goje warned that this widening disparity threatens the livelihoods of millions of farmers across the country.

While acknowledging the government’s efforts to lower consumer food prices through import waivers and special import permissions, Goje pointed out a significant unintended consequence: cheaper imports have depressed domestic produce prices, squeezing farmers’ profits and causing substantial post-harvest losses.

Lawmakers emphasized that continued declines in farm-gate prices could discourage farmers from planting in future seasons, weakening domestic food production and rural economies. They also cautioned that excessive reliance on imported food could undermine Nigeria’s food sovereignty and expose the economy to global price shocks.

To tackle these issues, the Senate called for an emergency intervention package to support affected farmers, the establishment of benchmark minimum prices for key commodities, and a guaranteed off-take programme in which public agencies would purchase produce at agreed rates.

The resolutions additionally recommended investment in storage facilities, irrigation systems, processing centres, and rural roads, while enhancing coordination among ministries, state governments, commodity boards, and cooperatives to ensure fair pricing, efficient transport, and improved market access.

Senators also proposed a review of import waiver policies to enable local produce to compete fairly with imported goods, thereby safeguarding the sustainability of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

In a separate development, the Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of three ambassadorial nominees—Ayodele Oke, Colonel Kayode Are (rtd), and Amin Dalhatu—for appointment as envoys.

The approval followed the consideration and adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, presented during plenary by its chairman, Senator Abubakar Sani Bello.

Oke, a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and ex-Nigerian Ambassador to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London; Are, a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS); and Dalhatu, Nigeria’s immediate past Ambassador to South Korea, were unanimously endorsed by lawmakers after Senate President Godswill Akpabio put their nominations to a voice vote.

In his remarks, Akpabio urged the ambassadors-designate to draw on their extensive experience in performing their diplomatic responsibilities.