ACCI to Tinubu: Declare Emergency on Nigeria’s Food Production Now
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) wants President Bola Tinubu to declare a State of Emergency on Food Production to combat rising food insecurity and unlock the nation’s vast agricultural potential.
It is proposing a sweeping national initiative tagged “Operation No Idle Land.” The initiative advocates for a nationwide land audit, aggressive agricultural clusters, and technology-driven farming to move Nigeria from a nation of agricultural potential to one of large-scale production.
A Call for Radical Agricultural Reforms
In an open letter signed by ACCI’s Vice President of Agriculture, Bode Thompson, the Chamber emphasized that Nigeria must urgently revolutionize its farming sector. Thompson noted that his recent agricultural studies and farm assessments across the United States, Canada, Israel, and Europe highlighted a glaring gap in how Nigeria manages its resources.
To bridge this gap, the chamber is urging the Federal Government to adopt coordinated international strategies centred on modern mechanisation, advanced technology, structured finance, and robust value-chain development.
Inside ‘Operation No Idle Land’
The core of the ACCI’s proposal relies on maximizing the utility of Nigeria’s vast uncultivated landmass. Under the Operation No Idle Land framework, the chamber recommends incentivizing landowners and encouraging individuals and entities with underutilized land to convert them into active farms, agribusinesses, agro-processing centres, or other approved economic hubs.
ACCI is also recommending commercial land banks and leasing systems to give smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and large-scale investors easier access to arable land. In addition to this, it recommends agricultural clusters to streamline production, processing, and distribution networks.
