The Nigeria Youth Forum (NYF) has sounded the alarm on Nigeria’s deepening food crisis, identifying systemic corruption as the root cause of widespread hunger and poor agricultural performance.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Comrade Toriah Olajide Filani, NYF’s national president, warned that without decisive intervention, over 25 million Nigerians may face acute food insecurity in the near future. He blamed the crisis on mismanagement, diversion of agricultural resources, underfunding, and weak accountability systems.
“Agricultural equipment intended for communities is routinely diverted and sold by individuals. This undermines every effort to achieve food self-sufficiency,” Filani said.
Despite Nigeria’s rich arable land, only 35% of it is currently cultivated—mainly by smallholder farmers operating without access to modern tools or institutional support. Filani described Nigeria’s dependence on food imports and aid as a “policy failure and a national tragedy.”
The NYF criticized the federal government’s low budgetary allocation to agriculture, noting that just 1.32% of the 2024 national budget went to the sector—well below the 10% benchmark set by the African Union under the Maputo and Malabo Declarations.
While acknowledging a substantial 128% increase in the proposed 2025 agriculture budget—rising to ₦826 billion—Filani stressed that allocation without transparency, monitoring, and impact is ineffective.
“In reality, only 15–19% of budgeted funds reach the sector. The rest is lost to corruption and inefficiencies,” he stated.
Filani emphasized the transformative potential of agriculture in reducing youth unemployment, promoting rural security, and revitalizing Nigeria’s industrial base. He cited states like Kano, where consistent investment in agricultural infrastructure has helped curb rural insecurity.
“Where young people are meaningfully engaged, crime rates drop,” he noted, linking agriculture to both national stability and economic revival.
The NYF urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a national agricultural emergency and launch a youth-centered, innovation-driven revival plan. Key proposals included:
- Creation of youth-led agricultural cooperatives,
- Expansion of mechanized farming schemes,
- State-level productivity targets, and
- A public digital dashboard to track real-time delivery and implementation of agricultural projects.
Filani warned that without measurable impact and accountability, agricultural reforms would remain superficial.
“Nigeria should be feeding Africa—not battling hunger while sitting on fertile land,” he concluded.
The NYF cited alarming data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), warning that Nigeria’s current trajectory threatens to entrench poverty, weaken security, and cripple long-term economic growth. The country’s 103rd position out of 121 countries on the 2023 Global Hunger Index underscores the scale of the crisis.
