Interrogating Kaduna State’s march to food security, By Zainab Suleiman Okino

For years, insecurity has cast a long shadow over governance in Nigeria, particularly across the northern states. Banditry, insurgency and communal conflicts have not only claimed lives and displaced communities, they have also crippled farming, disrupted rural economies and threatened the nation’s food supply. Vast stretches of fertile farmland have been abandoned, farming communities have lived in fear, and food inflation has become an inevitable consequence of shrinking agricultural output.

These realities are undeniable. Yet, even amid insecurity, governance cannot be suspended. The primary responsibility of government remains the welfare and prosperity of the people. Security may be indispensable for now, but so too should be the ability of citizens to cultivate their land, earn a livelihood and feed their families. In truth, food security is itself a pillar of national security. A hungry society is more vulnerable to instability than one whose people have opportunities to work and prosper.

Against this backdrop, Kaduna State is attempting to chart a different course. While the state has endured years of violent conflict that diminished its reputation and weakened its agricultural strength, Governor Uba Sani appears determined to shift the narrative. Even while actively participating in national politics, his administration has consistently projected agriculture as a strategic priority rather than a ceremonial slogan. That deserves acknowledgement.

Politics and governance should never be mutually exclusive. Elections eventually end, but governance continues every day. Citizens judge governments not merely by political victories but by measurable improvements in their quality of life. Agriculture is one sector where such improvements can be felt directly, especially in a state with Kaduna’s natural endowments and historical importance as one of Nigeria’s leading food-producing regions.

Kaduna has long possessed enormous agricultural potential. The Kaduna–Jos–Benue axis remains one of Nigeria’s major food belts, with agriculture contributing between 43 and 45 per cent of the state’s Gross Domestic Product. The state ranks among the country’s leading agricultural producers and remains one of Nigeria’s largest producers of maize and ginger. Unfortunately, years of insecurity, internal divisions and recurring crises gradually overshadowed these advantages. Kaduna State increasingly became associated with conflicts instead of cultivation, violence instead of productivity.

Governor Uba Sani’s administration appears intent on reversing that perception by placing agriculture at the centre of economic planning. One of the strongest indicators of commitment is budgetary allocation. The Malabo Declaration urges African governments to dedicate at least 10 per cent of public expenditure to agriculture. Kaduna has steadily moved towards, and eventually exceeded, that benchmark.

The progression is instructive. Agriculture received ₦23.40 billion in the 2024 budget. In 2025, the allocation rose sharply to ₦74.02 billion, with almost 98 per cent dedicated to capital expenditure, demonstrating an emphasis on investment rather than recurrent spending. In the 2026 budget, the commitment exceeded ₦100 billion, representing about 11.65 per cent of total state expenditure. The steady increase over three consecutive years reflects a deliberate strategy to strengthen food production and rural development.

Equally significant is Kaduna’s pioneering role in agricultural industrialisation. The state became the first in Nigeria to launch the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ), an initiative designed to move agriculture beyond primary production into processing, value addition and industrialisation. At the launch, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, described the initiative as one capable of transforming agriculture into a high-value economic sector that attracts investment, creates employment and stimulates inclusive growth.

Complementing the SAPZ is the Agricultural Quality Assurance Centre, being developed with support from Afreximbank. As the first facility of its kind in Northern Nigeria, the centre is expected to help agricultural products meet both domestic and international quality standards. In the long term, this positions Kaduna State to benefit more substantially from opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area by making its agricultural products more competitive in regional and global markets.

However, budgets and ambitious projects alone do not transform agriculture. Their impact depends on whether they reach the ordinary farmer. Here, Kaduna’s approach has increasingly focused on smallholder farmers through cooperative societies and community-based interventions.

Farmers, organised into cooperatives have received mechanised equipment, including horsepower tillers, solar-powered irrigation pumps and gasoline-powered machines that enable year-round farming. Improved seeds, fertilisers, herbicides, motorised knapsack sprayers and other farming inputs have also been distributed to support productivity.

Perhaps one of the administration’s most innovative interventions is crop risk insurance. Agriculture everywhere is exposed to uncertainties-from pests and diseases to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change. Traditionally, Nigerian farmers bore these losses alone. Kaduna has sought to change that by enrolling 100,000 smallholder farmers in a crop insurance scheme that protects them against production risks. Such insurance encourages confidence to invest, expand cultivation and protect investments.

Similarly, under the Tallafin Noma (A Koma Gona) initiative, tens of thousands of farmers have received improved maize seeds, agrochemicals and free fertiliser. The administration has repeatedly undertaken one of the country’s largest fertiliser distribution programmes, providing hundreds of truckloads of fertiliser and farming inputs to smallholder farmers at no cost. These interventions contribute directly to food availability while helping to moderate commodity prices.

Governor Uba Sani has also consistently argued that mechanisation is indispensable to modern agriculture. His point is difficult to dispute. No economy can realistically compete in the twenty-first century while relying almost entirely on outdated farming methods. Mechanisation improves productivity, reduces labour constraints and enables farmers to cultivate larger areas more efficiently.