By Laraba Usman
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with AGRA has organised a two-day zonal validation workshop on the Nigerian Agricultural Land and Soil Management Policy for the North-East Zone.
The workshop, which began on Monday in Gombe, is aimed at obtaining inputs from farmers and other stakeholders to strengthen the draft policy and ensure that it reflects the realities of agricultural land users in the region.
Declaring the workshop open, the Director of Agricultural Land and Climate Change Management Science, Mr Osohadiya Olanipekun, said the policy was particularly important as Nigeria’s agricultural land faced increasing pressure from unsustainable farming practices, soil erosion, nutrient depletion, desertification, flooding and climate change.
Olanipekun, represented by the Assistant Director, Mrs Irene Maduabibi, said the challenges posed serious threats to food production and the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.
“Soil is the foundation of our food system, yet significant portions of Nigeria’s soils have already been degraded,” he said.
He said the Federal Government had introduced the Nigerian Farmers Soil Health Scheme (NFSHS), launched in October 2025, to address low crop yields, rising farming costs, soil degradation, fertiliser waste and pollution.
According to him, the scheme is also aimed at contributing to food sovereignty and reducing the country’s dependence on imports.
He said the initiative was based on the principle: “Know your soil first, then farm better.”
Olanipekun said that, with support from development partners, the ministry had recorded several milestones, including the development of the Nigerian Soil Information System and the integration of the NFSHS into the ECOWAS Regional Fertiliser Hub.
He added that the ministry had partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on GP Soil Matters in Nigeria and provided modern laboratory equipment to 15 states to strengthen soil testing and management.
Also speaking, the Lead Consultant for the Nigerian Agricultural Land and Soil Management Policy, Prof. Olumuyiwa Jeyeoba, said the validation exercise was designed to adopt a bottom-up approach to policy development.
Jeyeoba said the approach would ensure that the experiences and concerns of farmers and other stakeholders were reflected in the final document, thereby creating a sense of ownership and making implementation easier.
He described soil as the foundation of food security, noting that improved crop varieties could not deliver their full potential when cultivated on degraded soils.
He said combining improved seeds with proper soil management would increase agricultural productivity and strengthen food security.
Also speaking, the President of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria, Prof. Jibrin Mohamed, said stakeholder consultation was necessary to develop a harmonised framework for managing Nigeria’s agricultural land and soil resources.
Mohamed said the
country’s soil resources were being threatened by various activities and called for a coordinated policy to guide government agencies, farmers, organisations and other land users in ensuring the sustainable use of agricultural land.
In his goodwill message earlier, Dr. Theophilus Raymond, AGRA Representative, emphasised the importance of sustainable agricultural land and soil management, inclusive policy development under the NALSMP, environmental protection, increased productivity from existing land resources, and effective policy implementation.
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