Within the latter half of the twentieth century, one of many improvements that has unequivocally augmented crop productiveness is the production of inorganic fertilisers. This very important element of a complete array of agricultural inputs is crucial for enhancing yield.
It includes macronutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—that are requisite for optimum plant development in substantial portions.
The degraded situation of the soil underscores the importance of fertiliser utility as a vital agricultural apply. The Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) has designated Nigeria as one of many nations grappling with extreme soil degradation. It’s evident that the problem will be ascribed to a mixture of things, together with poor administration practices and adversarial climatic and environmental circumstances.
With a burgeoning inhabitants and the urgent want to make sure meals safety, making agriculture viable necessitates concerted efforts in the direction of the supply of reasonably priced fertilizers.
The position of fertilisers continues to problem the ingenuity and resolve of governments, policymakers, and social enterprises in rendering this important enter accessible to end-users. Enhanced entry to fertilizers is transformative, significantly for the multitude of smallholder farmers, because it breaks the cycle of poverty, boosts productiveness and revenue, and improves the meals system as an entire.
Present fertiliser utility charges stay woefully inadequate to instigate a seismic shift in Nigeria’s meals production paradigm. In line with the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Affiliation of Nigeria (FESAN), farmers are utilising roughly 24 kg per hectare of fertiliser, starkly beneath the 50 kg per hectare goal established within the 2006 Abuja Declaration on fertilisers, which goals to raise common fertiliser utilization in Africa and consequently improve yield. The identical supply signifies that the nation at the moment boasts an estimated annual production capability of round 16 million metric tonnes of fertilisers, whereas home consumption hovers at roughly 2 million metric tonnes.
For the reason that Sixties, the federal government has maintained management over the fertilizer business by way of tenders, contracts, and importation to produce this important enter, supported by intensive subsidy packages geared toward advancing agricultural initiatives. Nevertheless, these efforts have regularly been marred by corruption and inefficiencies, with merchandise usually failing to achieve the meant beneficiaries. Furthermore, makes an attempt to stimulate home production led to the institution of fertiliser corporations by the federal government, which subsequently fell in need of expectations as a consequence of a myriad of challenges.
The liberalisation of the fertiliser sector in 1997 encountered an unprepared non-public sector, leading to a pointy escalation in fertiliser costs, thereby inserting it past the {financial} attain of farmers and precipitating a dramatic decline in fertiliser utilization. The ramifications of this liberalisation compelled the federal government to recalibrate its strategy, culminating within the reintroduction of subsidies.
Subsequently, beneath the privatisation agenda of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, the nation’s principal fertiliser corporations had been privatised, with non-public funding catalysing large-scale urea production and successfully positioning Nigeria as a web exporter of Urea since 2014 (Urea, wealthy in nitrogen at roughly 46%). The provision of Urea incentivised the native production of NPK mixing crops by the non-public sector.
In an effort to handle the persistent problems with corruption, political patronage, exorbitant costs, and distribution challenges, the Jonathan administration instituted the Development Enhancement Help Scheme (GES) to reinforce the affordability and availability of fertilisers and facilitate entry to subsidies by way of an e-wallet system. This initiative garnered each vital acclaim and appreciable criticism as a consequence of numerous inadequacies.
The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) was launched in 2016 following an Contract between the late President Muhammadu Buhari authorities and OCP, a Moroccan state-owned enterprise, to produce phosphorus at discounted charges. The target was to facilitate farmers’ entry to fertilizers and promote the proliferation of fertiliser mixing corporations. The federal government ensured it imported the vital element of mineral fertiliser, principally the phosphorus and potash, whereas Urea was domestically sourced as a consequence of its abundance. The initiative led to an uptick in mixing factories to about 90 from 2016 to 2025.
The programme initially succeeded in driving costs down. Nevertheless, following this transient respite, farmers discovered themselves compelled to buy fertilisers and different inputs at exorbitant costs, which led to an escalation in production prices that subsequently affected meals costs. Like its predecessors, the initiative confronted a deluge of criticism regardless of makes an attempt at restructuring.
In an effort to mitigate the surging meals costs in 2025, the federal government launched a myriad of initiatives that, whereas efficient in lowering meals prices, inadvertently relegated farmers to vital money owed and losses. Because the nation approaches the onset of the 2026 moist season, making certain the supply of inputs at cheap costs may invigorate production and alleviate the lethargy afflicting many farmers nonetheless reeling from the earlier season’s losses.
The rise in fertiliser production and mixing corporations represents a big development in home production capabilities. Nevertheless, changing this growth into tangible advantages for farmers and enhancing general meals safety necessitates greater than mere production capability. The crux of the problem lies in making certain that smallholder farmers have unhindered entry to the enter, thereby successfully augmenting yield and realising the overarching purpose of meals safety.
Primarily, governmental interventions within the fertiliser sector should prioritise availability, accessibility, timeliness, aggressive pricing, and high quality. Moreover, the efforts have to be good sufficient to avoid the debilitating results of corruption, which has persistently plagued the sector.