Nigeria's farms are running on 19.74 kg of fertilizer per hectare
The global average is 184 kg/ha
The recommended level for optimal productivity is around 400 kg/ha.
That is not a gap.
That is a productivity crisis hiding in plain sight.
When food prices rise, the conversation often focuses on markets, traders, or farmers.
But long before food reaches the market, productivity is determined on the farm.
And productivity depends heavily on inputs.
The data tells an important story.
Nigeria consumed approximately 1.86 million metric tons of fertilizer in 2024, yet fertilizer application remains far below both global averages and recommended levels.
So the question is not simply whether fertilizer exists
The question is whether farmers can access the inputs they need, when they need them, and in sufficient quantities to improve productivity.
Because fertilizer does not increase yields in a warehouse.
Improved seeds do not increase harvests in storage.
Inputs only create value when they reach the farmer.
This is one of the challenges the Farm Inputs Support Programme (FISP) seeks to address under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The programme is designed to support farmers with critical production inputs, strengthen agricultural productivity, and contribute to the broader goal of achieving food security in Nigeria.
The logic is simple
Higher productivity means more output from existing farmland.
More output means stronger food supply.
Stronger food supply helps build a more food-secure nation. Every hectare operating below its productive potential represents food that could have been produced but wasn't.
Multiply that across millions of hectares, and the result is felt in food availability, food prices, rural incomes, and national economic growth.
Nigeria's agricultural challenge is not only about cultivating more land.
It is also about helping farmers produce more from the land they already cultivate.
And that begins with access to the right inputs.
The numbers remind us why productivity matters.
The policy response reminds us why action matters.
Because food security starts long before the harvest.
It starts with what gets into the hands of the farmer.
#FISP #NADFSupportsFarmers #RenewedHopeAgenda