Stakeholders in Nigeria’s agribusiness and food systems have called for stronger linkage between agriculture, industry, and markets to unlock value chains, enhance food security, and accelerate sustainable economic growth.

They made the call on Thursday in Lagos during a communique from the American Business Council event.

Foluso Alabi, the country team lead for Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Soybean Export Council, called for sustained efforts toward ensuring food and nutrition security as a pathway to improved health, productivity, and economic growth.

Mr Alabi restated that adequate nutrition enhanced cognitive function, reduced absenteeism, and strengthened the labour force, enhancing economic output.

He explained that while food security focused on availability, nutrition security underscored the quality and balance of nutrients consumed, noting that Nigeria still faces a significant protein consumption gap.

Through initiatives like the Right to Protein campaign, Mr Alabi said USSEC was working to raise awareness about adequate protein intake, policy advocacy, and collaborations that increase access to protein-rich foods.

Macdonald Ukah, lead of the economic intelligence function at Flour Mills of Nigeria, stressed that Nigeria must prioritise connecting agriculture to industrial processing and markets to unlock value, boost productivity, and strengthen food security.

Mr Ukah noted that agriculture accounted for about 28 per cent of Nigeria’s real GDP in 2024, underscoring its significance as a source of livelihood for millions of rural households.

He highlighted the predominance of smallholder farmers as a defining feature of the sector, stressing that any effort to transform agriculture must focus on improving their productivity.

Citing maize as an example, he noted that Nigeria currently produces an average of two tonnes per hectare, less than half of the global average.

Mr Ukah added that doubling yields to four tonnes without expanding farmland could meet domestic demand and create export surpluses under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

He reiterated that yield transformation requires investment in high-quality seeds, fertilisers, mechanisation, and indigenous research, alongside the deployment of trained extension workers to promote best agronomic practices.

Mr Ukah called for targeted industrial policies to stimulate agro-processing through fiscal incentives, low-cost funding, and the establishment of special agro-industrial processing zones.

On market development, Mr Ukah underscored the importance of efficient commodity exchanges to link farmers with processors, stabilise prices, and reduce post-harvest losses. He identified inadequate storage infrastructure as a major bottleneck, saying Nigeria produces between 30 and 33 million metric tonnes of grains annually but has silo capacity for only about 1.5 million tonnes.

Mr Ukah also called for the establishment of a national food systems data dashboard and early warning mechanism to close information gaps and support evidence-based planning.

He reaffirmed FMN’s commitment to building resilient value chains and promoting sustainable growth through agriculture-led industrialisation.

Nneka Enwereji, president of ABC, described the event’s theme as timely and relevant, noting that Nigeria stood at an inflection point with vast agricultural potential, a growing industrial base, and one of Africa’s largest consumer markets.

Ms Enwereji said the real opportunity lay in how effectively these parameters were connected to create sustainable growth.

She asserted that when agriculture, industry, and markets move in alignment, transformation, rather than incremental growth, becomes possible.

(NAN)