The Managing Director of Alana Green Limited, Bountiful Atako, has warned that Nigerian farmers are increasingly withdrawing from agricultural activities due to rising input costs, policy inconsistencies, and economic uncertainty, raising concerns about food production and supply.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Atako said the impact of global shocks and domestic policy decisions is already being felt across the agricultural sector.
“I think it’s not a picture to paint for the later; it’s happening already,” he said.
He explained that farmers are struggling financially, particularly with loan repayments and rising production costs.
“We’re seeing massive defaults in farmer repayment of loans. Our company, Alana Green, has been badly affected by that,” he said.
According to him, recent policy decisions have worsened the situation for farmers who had already invested heavily in production.
“Farmers were able to save good money to buy inputs… and just right before they went to market, the government importation bill came biting hard,” he said.
As a result, many farmers are now reconsidering their participation in the sector. “From what I learned from my team on the ground… farmers are unwilling to go back to the farms,” he said.
He added that even those still active are scaling down operations due to uncertainty. “Smallholders are looking at cautionary farming… they are uncertain about the policy environment,” he said.
Atako stressed that inconsistency in agricultural policy remains a major challenge affecting productivity and confidence in the sector.
“The coherence in agric policy has been a problem. We don’t have that support felt as farmers,” he said.
He also warned that current improvements in food prices may not be sustainable given underlying pressures.
“We have managed to calm down this inflation, but it’s going to spike again due to these concerns,” he said.
Atako’s remarks highlight growing instability in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, with declining farmer participation posing a potential threat to food security if policy and economic challenges persist.
Triumph Ojo
