FG Launches 99-Member Farmers’ Coalition

The Federal Government has inaugurated the Coalition of Farmers Associations for Food Security in Nigeria (COA-FARMERS), a new umbrella body bringing together 99 farmer associations and commodity organisations, as the agriculture sector recorded a 4.39 per cent growth rate in the second quarter of 2026, its strongest performance since 2021.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed the growth figure on Monday in Abuja while inaugurating the coalition on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Kyari said the growth was largely driven by the efforts of Nigerian farmers following President Tinubu's declaration of a state of emergency on food security shortly after assuming office. He added that the renaming of the ministry to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security reflected the administration's focus on ensuring that agricultural policies translate into food on Nigerian tables, rather than remaining confined to policy documents.

According to the minister, COA-FARMERS must go beyond serving as a mere umbrella body for farmers' associations, and instead become a platform for identifying challenges, improving the flow of information from farmers to government, and helping officials assess the effectiveness of existing agricultural programmes on the ground.

Kyari also linked the newly inaugurated coalition to Nigeria's broader international agricultural engagement, noting that the country was unanimously elected in February to chair the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). "When Nigeria speaks in that forum, it must speak with the authority of its own farmers, and this coalition will help give that voice its substance," he said.

The minister stressed the importance of women farmers in achieving national food security, saying they must have greater opportunities to participate in decision-making, access tools, invest, and expand their businesses. He urged the coalition to provide honest feedback on government programmes, particularly in areas where interventions were not reaching farmers as intended. "Mr President expects this Ministry to deliver results that farmers can feel: better access to inputs, stronger production, higher productivity, better markets and more secure livelihoods," Kyari said.

The minister further disclosed that President Tinubu had appointed him Director of the Presidential Campaign Council for Agro-Allied Commodities Mobilisation, with the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, serving as Deputy Director. Abdullahi, speaking at the same event, acknowledged the coalition's stated support for the President's re-election bid and urged its members to highlight the administration's achievements in agriculture and other sectors.

The National President of COA-FARMERS, Chief Emmanuel Anoh, explained that the coalition comprises 99 farmer associations and commodity organisations representing producers, aggregators, processors, and marketers across the agricultural value chain. Anoh commended existing government interventions, including fertiliser distribution, tractor mechanisation support, the National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro-Pocket, and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, describing them as meaningful steps toward strengthening the sector.

He called for a direct-to-farm approach to distributing future interventions, arguing that support often fails to reach intended beneficiaries when channelled through intermediary structures. He also proposed quarterly stakeholder meetings between the coalition and the ministry, to maintain a consistent feedback loop between farmers and policymakers going forward.

The inauguration of COA-FARMERS adds a new institutional layer to Nigeria's agricultural policy architecture at a moment when the sector has posted its best quarterly growth figure in five years, according to the minister's disclosure. With the coalition now formally established and drawing together nearly 100 farmer and commodity groups, its effectiveness will likely be judged in the months ahead by whether it succeeds in channelling farmer feedback into tangible adjustments to government programmes, and whether the improved growth momentum recorded in the second quarter of 2026 can be sustained through the rest of the year.