Nigeria Moves to Support Farmers as Food Prices Stabilize

Nigeria just achieved something remarkable: food inflation plummeted from nearly 40% in December 2024 to under 11% by December 2025. But this victory for consumers created an unexpected problem that the government is now racing to solve.

Finance Minister Wale Edun announced Thursday that federal support is coming for farmers whose costs now exceed what they can charge for their crops. The intervention targets a delicate balance: keeping food affordable for families while ensuring farmers don't abandon their fields.

The price drop resulted from two years of economic reforms that stabilized currency exchange rates and improved food supply chains. While shoppers celebrated lower grocery bills, farmers quietly watched their profit margins disappear.

Edun explained the urgency at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group's 2026 outlook launch in Lagos. Without immediate help, farmers might stop planting, reversing all the progress Nigeria made in food availability and price stability over the past year.

The timing matters because Nigeria just emerged from what officials call a "crisis stabilization" phase. The country strengthened its foreign reserves, reduced currency volatility, and restored investor confidence through politically difficult reforms that are now paying off.

The Ripple Effect

This farmer support represents more than agricultural policy. It shows how economic success can create new challenges that require thoughtful solutions rather than rigid ideology.

The 2026 budget priorities include expanding electricity access, building road infrastructure, and protecting vulnerable citizens through social programs. Tax reforms will exempt essential foods and small businesses while broadening the overall tax base to fund these investments.

Nigeria's transformation caught global attention too. Credit agencies improved the country's ratings, and stock market growth positioned Nigeria for better visibility in international investment indexes. This matters especially as global multilateral funding decreases, making domestic investment crucial.

The consolidation phase demands what Edun calls "discipline and policy consistency." Nigeria cannot pause or retreat if stability is to become sustained growth, jobs, and poverty reduction.

For smallholder farmers who feed the nation, help is arriving at exactly the right moment. Their continued investment in food production will determine whether Nigeria's economic turnaround translates into lasting prosperity for everyone.

The message from Lagos is clear: reforms work, but protecting the people who make them successful matters just as much as the policies themselves.