Abuja, Nigeria | September 18, 2025
The Federal Government has announced fresh plans to revitalize its national silos concession programme as part of a renewed strategy to tackle post-harvest losses, stabilize food supply, and strengthen Nigeria’s food sovereignty.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday, noting that the move is aimed at ensuring better management of the country’s grain reserves and reducing wastage across the agricultural value chain.
According to him, the silo infrastructure, spread across different geo-political zones, has suffered years of underutilization due to poor concessioning processes and weak private sector participation. The new reform, he explained, will involve transparent revalidation of contracts, improved monitoring mechanisms, and broader stakeholder engagement to restore efficiency.
“The revitalization of silos is not just about storage, it is about securing our national food reserves and ensuring that Nigerian farmers get fair value for their produce. By reducing post-harvest losses, we will stabilize prices, improve food security, and enhance our capacity to respond to emergencies,” Kyari stated.
Nigeria currently loses an estimated 30–40% of its annual food production to poor storage, inadequate processing, and weak distribution systems, a situation experts warn undermines food sufficiency targets.
The minister added that the concession reforms will also encourage private investors to modernize storage facilities, deploy advanced technologies, and integrate smallholder farmers into structured value chains.
Agricultural stakeholders have welcomed the initiative, describing it as a critical intervention to secure Nigeria’s food future amid rising concerns over inflation, insecurity in farming communities, and the impacts of climate change.
