Food Import Waivers Spell Relief for Cities but Disaster for Northern Farmers

News in brief:

-The federal government’s ₦97 billion food import waiver has provided short-term relief for urban consumers but devastated northern farmers who cannot sell their maize, rice, and sorghum at profitable prices.

-Experts warn that continued reliance on imports will discourage local food production, worsen food insecurity, and increase Nigeria’s dependence on foreign suppliers in the long term.

When the Federal Government announced food import duty waivers worth nearly ₦97 billion, many urban consumers, especially in Abuja and Lagos, welcomed the news.

Rice, pasta, flour, and other food item prices dropped, and government officials celebrated what seemed like relief for households struggling with high food costs.

However, beneath the surface, farmers in the North, who have long carried Nigeria’s food security on their shoulders, are paying the steepest price.

The Waiver and its Winners

The policy, introduced under the Tinubu administration, opened borders for cheap imports of staples such as rice, maize, wheat, and sorghum. According to the Nigeria Customs Service, these waivers were designed to ease pressure on food prices.

Big food companies, including BUA Foods, were among the beneficiaries. Its chairman, Abdul Samad Rabiu, openly declared that “food prices are coming down in Nigeria” and boasted that hoarders were left with unsold stock. Yet, while poultry farmers in the Southwest cheer lower maize feed prices, maize farmers in places like Bichi, Zaria, and Sokoto now face devastating losses.

Northern Farmers Left Stranded

For farmers who invested heavily in inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and irrigation, already made more expensive by subsidy removal and a weakened naira, the policy feels like betrayal. Their produce is struggling to find buyers, and the traditional system where middlemen bought and stored grains is collapsing under the weight of imports.

Agricultural experts warn that if farmers cannot make a profit, they will abandon planting. That could trigger a collapse in local production, leaving Nigeria permanently dependent on imports. As one farmer in Kano lamented during a stakeholder meeting: “How do you explain to us that after feeding the nation for decades, our sweat now means nothing compared to foreign imports?”

Lessons from Past Mistakes

Nigeria has been down this road before. The Structural Adjustment Programme of 1986 crippled local industries. Rice imports in the early 2000s nearly wiped out local farmers until tariffs were restored. Fuel subsidies, meant to support the poor, enriched smugglers instead. Today’s food waiver risks repeating history: quick fixes that undermine long-term food security.

Experts like Mike Smart, founder of Smart Farms LLC, caution that food security cannot be outsourced. “The future of food isn’t in distant fields or corporate warehouses. It’s in every home, every garden, and every community that takes control of its own food security,” he said.

What Farmers Really Need

Analysts argue that the government could have pursued more sustainable interventions. These include:

• Subsidising fertiliser and easing fuel costs for irrigation.
• Investing in rural infrastructure, storage facilities, and farmer credit to reduce post-harvest losses.
• Protecting local farmers with smart tariffs while boosting productivity.

Instead, the waiver enriches a few corporate players while weakening millions of smallholder farmers who form the backbone of agricultural development in Nigeria.

The Road Ahead

Nigeria cannot import its way out of hunger. Every bag of imported rice represents lost income for farmers in Katsina, Kano, or Sokoto. Every waiver granted is a step toward deeper dependency.

The government must now answer a critical question: Whose side is it on, the billionaires who import food or the farmers who grow it? Because if northern farmers abandon their fields, Nigeria may soon discover that cheap imports are the most expensive mistake it has ever made.