Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima has formed a committee to develop agricultural interventions for wheat, other staple crops and livestock, as conflict and higher farm costs strain food production. He established the panel at an Oct. 20 meeting in Abuja.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that 36.3 million people, or 17% of the population it analyzed, faced Crisis-level or worse acute food insecurity during the June through August 2026 lean season. FAO cited the Cadre Harmonisé assessment for the estimate.
FAO said conflict restricted access to farmland in key cereal-producing states. Between February and May 2026, it estimated, NPK fertilizer prices rose 12% and urea prices rose 43%. The agency said those increases were likely to reduce fertilizer use and crop yields.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Abubakar Kyari said officials examined constraints facing farmers and discussed ways to raise wheat output and expand dry-season cultivation. The committee’s broader assignment is to draw up a blueprint for interventions covering wheat, other staples and livestock.
Marion Moon, Shettima’s technical adviser on agriculture, will coordinate the panel; she also heads the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit. Officials responsible for seeds, land, mechanization and farm finance will work with representatives from ministries overseeing livestock, water resources and agriculture.
Moon said gaps in coordination among federal, state and local governments made it harder to understand agricultural activity across the states. The Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit describes federal authorities as responsible for policy and resource coordination, while states and local governments carry out programs. The National Economic Council formed a separate livestock development committee in December 2025.
Kyari said another committee will review the technical panel’s report before it goes to Shettima and then Tinubu. The Oct. 20 announcement set no deadline for the blueprint, production target or funding amount.
