By S David Prince
The Federal Government has inaugurated the distribution of 80,640 bags of NPK fertiliser to 20,160 smallholder farmers across four North-Central states, with every bag marked “Not for Sale” and linked to a verified farmer to block diversion.
The exercise, held on Wednesday in Niger State, is being implemented under the Farm Input Support Programme of the National Agricultural Development Fund. Beneficiary states are Niger, Benue, Nasarawa and Kwara, each receiving fertiliser consignments ahead of the 2026 planting season.
Sen. Aliyu Sabi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, said the intervention was a direct expression of President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency on food security.
“Farming is the source of prosperity. The President promised that Nigeria will produce what it eats and eats what it produces. NADF was established to drive interventions that will make that vision a reality,” the minister stated.
Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, Executive Secretary of NADF, described the programme as deliberately targeted rather than a blanket distribution exercise.
“FISP is not fertiliser distribution for the sake of distribution. It is targeted support designed to get fertiliser to the right farmers, for the right crops and at the right time. The objective is to reduce production costs, improve access to quality fertiliser, increase yield per hectare and strengthen food supply in the market,” he said.
Mr. Ibrahim added that every bag had been linked to a verified farmer through a transparent beneficiary validation process, and that the programme would be actively monitored for its impact on productivity and food production outcomes. The fertilisers are locally produced and clearly marked to prevent resale on the open market.
Gov. Umar Bago of Niger State, who also addressed the gathering, said the state is targeting production of approximately 2.5 million metric tonnes (2,500,000,000 kg) of grains this year and expressed optimism that the timely input support would help curb food inflation and strengthen national supply. He urged beneficiaries to make the best use of the free inputs.
Mr. Mohammed Magaji, National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, commended the Federal Government and NADF for the intervention, pledging AFAN’s continued collaboration to advance agricultural development. Dr. Benjamin Ashaver, Mr. Olohuntoyosi Adebayo and Mr. Umar Tanko-Tunga, Commissioners for Agriculture in Benue, Kwara and Nasarawa respectively, also spoke at the event, stressing the importance of inter-state collaboration in building food security across the region.
The highpoint of the event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and the formal handover of fertiliser consignments to representatives of beneficiary states and farmers.
This latest federal fertiliser push follows similar decentralised distribution efforts seen recently in Katsina State, where the state government deployed 6,652 polling units as collection hubs to eliminate middlemen from the supply chain.
