VP Shettima Unveils Nigeria’s Food Security Macro-Strategy at Davos

Vice President Kashim Shettima has unveiled Nigeria’s new macro-level food security strategy, describing it as a critical pillar for economic stability, governance, and national security. He announced the initiative during a high-level panel, “When Food Becomes Security,” at the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

According to VP Shettima, the Federal Government no longer sees food security purely as an agricultural issue. Instead, it is being treated as a multi-dimensional challenge tied to inflation, foreign exchange stability, regional cohesion, and national security.

Central to the strategy is the Back to the Farm Initiative, designed to resettle displaced farmers by providing access to agricultural inputs, insurance, and capital to restart food production. Shettima emphasized that most of Nigeria’s food-producing areas are conflict-affected, prompting the creation of food security corridors and community-based security engagements to ensure safe farming.

The Vice President highlighted three pillars of the strategy: increasing domestic food production, ensuring environmental sustainability, and deepening regional integration across West Africa. He explained that climate shocks including desertification in the north and flooding in the south require resilient food systems with drought-resistant, flood-tolerant, and early-maturing crop varieties.

Shettima also linked food security to economic reform, noting Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imports such as wheat, sugar, and dairy products as a driver of inflation. The government aims to accelerate local production and promote substitutes like sorghum, millet, and cassava flour to reduce reliance on imports.

On the regional front, Shettima called for stronger intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), stressing that Africa must strengthen internal food systems while promoting cross-border trade.

The Vice President expressed optimism that ongoing Renewed Hope Agenda reforms would enable smallholder farmers and fishers to become commercially viable within 12 months, while climate adaptation initiatives move from pilot phases to full implementation.

Shettima’s address positioned Nigeria’s food security strategy as a frontline response to global supply shocks, inflation, and security challenges, signaling a shift toward a more integrated, resilient, and economically strategic approach to agriculture.