By Stella Omona Abuja
The Federal Government has inaugurated the Coalition of Farmers Associations for Food Security in Nigeria (COA-FARMERS), as the agriculture sector recorded a 4.39 per cent growth in the second quarter of 2026, its strongest performance since 2021.
The coalition also pledged its support for the re-election campaign of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, who represented President Tinubu at the inauguration in Abuja on Monday, said the latest growth reflected the efforts of Nigerian farmers following the President’s declaration of a state of emergency on food security.
Kyari said in a statement by the Head, Department of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, that government’s decision to rename the ministry the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security was aimed at placing greater emphasis on food production and what ultimately reaches the Nigerian table.
According to him, farmers must have a stronger voice in shaping policies and programmes affecting the agricultural sector.
“A country cannot secure its food future if the people who produce its food are heard only after decisions have been made,” he said.
The minister charged COA-FARMERS to go beyond serving as an umbrella body for farmers’ associations, saying it should help strengthen communication between farmers and government and provide credible information on challenges confronting producers.
He said the coalition should identify areas where government programmes were yielding results and point out areas requiring adjustments.
Kyari also linked the coalition to Nigeria’s growing role in international agricultural affairs, noting that Nigeria 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 said the coalition’s logo, which features crops, livestock, fisheries and joined hands, reflected the broad scope of Nigerian agriculture and the need for cooperation across the sector.
He also stressed the importance of women farmers in achieving food security, saying they must be given greater opportunities to participate in decision-making, access tools and invest in agricultural production.
“Food security will not be secured by speaking for women farmers. It will be strengthened by ensuring that women farmers have the space, the tools and the opportunity to organise, invest, produce and grow,” Kyari said.
He urged COA-FARMERS to maintain its credibility and remain constructive in its engagement with government while ensuring that its activities produced tangible benefits for farmers.
“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,” he said.
Kyari recalled President Tinubu’s inauguration promise that food would become more abundant and less costly, while farmers would earn more, saying COA-FARMERS had a role to play in supporting the government to achieve the objective.
He further disclosed that President Tinubu had appointed him Director of the Presidential Campaign Council for Agro-Allied Commodities Mobilisation, while the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, would serve as Deputy Director.
Abdullahi, in his remarks, acknowledged the support of COA-FARMERS for the President’s re-election bid and urged members of the coalition to engage Nigerians at the grassroots by highlighting the administration’s achievements in agriculture and other sectors of the economy.
Earlier, the National President of COA-FARMERS, Chief Emmanuel Anoh, commended Nigerian farmers across grains, roots and tubers, livestock, fisheries, horticulture, cash crops and agro-allied services for their contributions to food production and economic development.
Anoh said the coalition comprised 99 farmer associations and commodity organisations representing producers, aggregators, processors and marketers across the agricultural value chain.
He described Kyari as a “Farmer’s Champion” and commended government interventions, including fertiliser distribution, food price stabilisation measures, the tractor mechanisation programme, the National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro-Pocket and the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones.
He, however, appealed to the government to adopt a direct-to-farm approach in distributing agricultural interventions and establish quarterly stakeholder engagements with the ministry.
Anoh also requested the minister’s support for a formal presentation of the coalition to President Tinubu.
The highlight of the event was the inauguration of COA-FARMERS as a unified apex platform comprising commodity associations, farmers and agribusiness organisations, registered farmers’ associations and cooperative societies across Nigeria.