According to NAN, Kyari spoke on Tuesday at the First Bank
of Nigeria’s 2025 Agric and Export Expo in Lagos.

The minister, decrying the rising rate of agro-imports,
stressed the need for more financing of agro activities to boost local exports.

Kyari, represented by his special adviser, Ibrahim Alkali,
harped on the importance of increasing financing for the nation’s agriculture
sector to boost food export revenue generation.

“Nigeria spends over $10 billion annually importing food
such as wheat, rice, sugar, fish and even tomato paste,” he said.

“Agriculture already contributes 35 percent of our gross
domestic product and employs 35 per cent of our workforce.

“We sit on 85 million hectares of urban land with a youth
population of over 70 percent under the age of 30, yet Nigeria accounts for
less than 0.5 percent of global exports.

“However, Nigeria earns less than $400 million from agro
exports, to build a non-oil export economy, we must rethink how we finance
agriculture.”

‘NIGERIA NEEDS INCREASED FINANCING TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY’

Kyari reiterated the federal government’s stance on ensuring
food sovereignty of the country, while insisting on increased financing of
agriculture.

The minister said President Bola Tinubu’s administration has
made it clear that food sovereignty is the goal.

He said Nigeria must not only feed itself, but the country
must do so on its own terms, “free from excessive dependency on imports”.

“Sovereignty means ensuring that no Nigerian goes hungry
because of shocks in the global food supply chain, allowing every community to
stand on the strength of our land, our people and our productivity,” Kyari
said.

“Boosting domestic production and building support for
exports are not separate agenda. They are two sides of the same coin.

“We have the land, the labour, and the markets, but we lack
the system of financing, value addition and infrastructure that convert
potential into prosperity.

“The fundamentals compel that we pilot from dependence on
oil rigs to resilience in food and export earnings from rural commodity exports
to value added agribusiness.

“From fragmented farmer credit to structured financial
systems that attract significant capital and from stereotyped perceptions to
improved participation of youth in the agricultural sector.”

Kyari also stressed the need for improved mechanisms and
critical thinking to boost food security.

“Nigeria can do better if we begin to think critically and
improve mechanism such as revenue sharing, finance, agricultural goals with
performance triggers, factoring forward contracts Pay-as-Harvest, and the
rest,” he said.

He said “these are not abstract theories. They are working
in real economies”.