Stakeholders warn of higher food inflation in 2025

Nigerians may battle higher food inflation in 2025 as the country continues to struggle with challenges that have stalled the growth of the agricultural sector, including insecurity and poor policy implementation, experts have warned.

Agricultural stakeholders have expressed concerns that despite the government’s interventions, inflation would continue to climb, aggravating hunger and poverty.

The Chairman of the Agro-allied Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kola Aderibigbe, raised alarm over the worsening food inflation and the declining agricultural output.

He predicted that food inflation might worsen next year.

Food inflation has risen steadily for several months, accelerating from 30.64 per cent in September 2023 to 37.77 per cent in September this year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, rising prices in essential commodities like vegetable oil, and beef, and staple beverages, such as Milo and Bournvita drove up the food inflation rate.

Aderibigbe blamed persistent insecurity, poor implementation of policies, and environmental issues, which had significantly disrupted farming for the soaring inflation in the country.

“We are in a vicious cycle. Despite government policies, we are losing agriculture,” the LCCI Agro-allied chairman said.

He noted that farmers, particularly in the South West, were staying away from their farms due to the fear of attacks by herdsmen, saying, “Farmers are not going back to the farms because the herdsmen, who we learn are foreign, are still grazing on the farms.”

Aderibigbe expressed disappointment at the effort of state governments to secure farmlands and farmers’ lives.

“Last time we were in a meeting with an assistant to the Ogun State governor, who said they were working to protect farms and on the next day, the herdsmen invaded farmlands.

“We say the same thing every time and we sound like a broken record, but the government is not doing anything,” he lamented.

According to Aderibigbe, insecurity is only one aspect of the problem. Erratic rainfall and flooding, exacerbated by climate change, are also crippling food production.

“Ideally, there should be heavy rains from February to July, but it rained for a while and stopped. How are we dealing with climate change in Nigeria?” he asked, as he further highlighted the government’s slow response to controlling dam overflows, which contribute to flooding.

He warned that the food situation could worsen next year, calling on Nigerians to prepare for a further increase in prices.

Aderibigbe said, “Next year, food inflation will be worse. We are to brace up. The crops are dried off,” as he advised Nigerians to consider urban farming and other innovative approaches to mitigate the effects of the looming food crisis.

He restated the need for state governments to lease unused lands to citizens for farming as a way of cushioning the effects of soaring food inflation.

Meanwhile, the President of the Small-scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria, Fatimah Gummi, expressed disappointment with the government’s poor implementation of agricultural policies.

Gummi argued that while many policies exist, their impact remained minimal due to poor execution and lack of reach to the real farmers.

“The reason the policies, despite being in place, are not yielding results is because they are not fully implemented,” she asserted.

She noted that only a fraction of the farmers, particularly smallholder women farmers, received the promised government inputs, such as fertiliser and seeds, and when they did, they often arrived too late.

“Just before I came to Abuja, inputs like fertiliser and seeds meant for wet season farming were being distributed—long after the season had passed.

“If you are not the type that goes for dry season farming, then you cannot use it during the dry season period. You either sell it away or you keep it till next year. So you see the purpose that it was given for is defeated,” she explained.

The SWOFON president also highlighted the rising cost of food and the declining purchasing power of Nigerians, saying, “The price of rice has skyrocketed, and beans, a crucial source of protein, now costs between N5,000 and N7,000 per measure. Many families cannot afford even the basic food items.”

She added that the food situation was set to deteriorate further as fuel prices continued to rise, making dry-season farming more expensive.

Gummi stressed the need for timely and adequate support for farmers to boost food production and control inflation.