In a policy brief, CPPE noted that the sharp decline in prices of key food commodities has helped moderate food inflation and improve household welfare. However, the organisation stressed that these gains are being offset by significant losses across the agricultural value chain, particularly among primary producers who are now facing collapsing farm-gate prices.
Muda Yusuf, CEO of the CPPE, says the current situation shows the unintended side effects of emergency policy measures, like boosting food imports to ease inflation. While this move has helped bring down consumer prices, the surge in imports has shaken local markets for staples like rice, maize, and soybeans, cutting production incentives and undermining investor confidence in the sector.
The private sector advocacy group warned that a prolonged period of depressed farm prices could undermine Nigeria’s broader food security objectives.
“Falling farmer incomes typically lead to reduced production in subsequent cycles, weaker investment appetite, and a heightened risk of future supply shortages that ultimately push prices higher again’, CPPE explained.
CPPE identified structural factors that continue to amplify price volatility in Nigeria’s agricultural markets. These include harvest-time gluts, inadequate storage and cold-chain infrastructure, weak rural logistics, limited processing capacity, and liquidity pressures that force farmers to sell output immediately after harvest regardless of prevailing prices.
To address these challenges, Yusuf called for urgent policy recalibration anchored on a rules-based and market-friendly Farm Price Stabilisation and Farmer Income Protection Framework. The organisation emphasised that the objective should not be heavy-handed market intervention, but targeted measures that correct structural market failures while preserving private sector participation.
As part of the proposed framework, CPPE recommended the introduction of minimum guaranteed prices for selected strategic crops, including maize, rice paddy, sorghum and soybeans. These price floors would serve as a stabilising backstop during periods of severe price collapse, rather than an open-ended government purchase programme. Support prices, CPPE said, should be transparently linked to cost of production, logistics expenses and a fair farmer margin.
CPPE also urged the adoption of predictable trade safeguards to prevent import-driven price shocks, alongside stronger market information systems to improve transparency and bargaining power across the value chain. Reducing the cost of farm inputs, expanding access to single-digit financing, and strengthening agricultural insurance were identified as critical complements to price stabilisation efforts.
CPPE warned that without deliberate action to stabilise farmer incomes, Nigeria risks undermining one of its most strategic economic sectors. A balanced framework that protects producers while keeping food affordable, the organisation said, is essential to sustaining investment confidence, rural livelihoods and long-term economic resilience.
