Stakeholders Gear Up for Agrofood Nigeria 2026 to Tackle Food Import Dependency

News in Brief

-Key stakeholders in agriculture will gather at AgroFood Nigeria 2026, in Lagos, to discuss how to advance agro-industrialisation and cut food imports.

-Discussions will cover inflation, AfCFTA, and growth, as the Netherlands leads other participating countries as a headline partner, showcasing tech in processing and logistics.

Key stakeholders, investors and partners in Nigeria's agriculture sector are preparing to charge the next phase of the country's agro-industrial transformation at the upcoming AgroFood Nigeria Tradeshow and Conference.

The focus of this 11th edition of West Africa's premier platform for the agrofood and agro-allied industries will be on slashing food imports, curbing food inflation, and transforming raw agricultural output into scalable, export-ready value chains that boost jobs and foreign exchange earnings.

Scheduled for March 24 to 26, 2026, at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island Annex, Lagos, the event addresses critical bottlenecks like limited processing capacity and high post-harvest losses. These challenges continue to hinder value creation in a sector that contributes over 22% to Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with recent data showing contributions as high as 28.65% in Q3 2024.

Organised by Fairtrade Messe, agrofood Nigeria 2026 will draw exhibitors from over 15 countries, cementing its status as the region's most international and decision-oriented agro-industrial marketplace.

The Netherlands, recognised as one of the world's most advanced agri-food economies and the second-largest agricultural exporter, takes centre stage as the headline country. Dutch participation will highlight proven global solutions in food processing, cold chain logistics, horticulture, seed technology, packaging, and sustainable production systems—tailored for Nigeria's agro-industrial expansion.

International Partnerships and Technology Transfer

Complementing the Netherlands, countries such as Germany, China, Belgium, and South Africa will offer structured avenues for technology transfer, partnerships, and investments across Nigeria's food and agro-allied value chains.

These collaborations come at a pivotal time, as Nigeria grapples with a 25 per cent surge in food imports to ₦1.1 trillion in Q3 2025, amid efforts to leverage recent gains like the 2.5 million metric tonnes of additional food production over the past two years under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) initiative.

Guest speakers will deliver insights on pressing issues, from production and industrial competitiveness to macroeconomics, food inflation, investment opportunities, trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and export-led growth.

Notable addresses come from Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, and Dr Yemi Kale, Group Chief Economist at Afreximbank. Their discussions align with projections of Nigeria's GDP growing at 4.4% this year, driven partly by non-oil sectors, including agriculture.

Strategic Shift to Industrialisation

Speaking on the strategic direction of the 2026 edition, the Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, Paul Maerz, said Nigeria’s food challenge is no longer about production alone, but a decisive question of how quickly the country can industrialise its food system, reduce losses, deepen processing and meet international quality standards.

Maerz said the Netherlands’ leadership at this edition reflects Agrofood Nigeria’s focus on practical, scalable solutions.

Also commenting, the Conference and Exhibitor Partner for AgroFood Nigeria, Odion Aleobua, noted that this 11th edition marks a shift from potential to execution.

“Nigeria’s agro-industrial future will be shaped by policy clarity, private capital, technology adoption, and trade readiness. Agrofood Nigeria is designed as a serious business platform where those decisions are advanced,” Aleobua said.

For Nigerian professionals, entrepreneurs, students, and stakeholders, this event represents a golden opportunity to forge partnerships that convert recent production milestones, such as the NAGS-AP's output across wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava, into processed, export-competitive products. With agriculture employing nearly 50% of the workforce and smallholder farmers driving 90 per cent of output, scaling processing and logistics could unlock billions in value while stabilising food prices battered by imports and inflation.

The platform's emphasis on cold chains and sustainable systems directly tackles post-harvest losses, estimated to waste up to 40% of produce annually, fostering job creation in rural areas and aligning with AfCFTA goals for intra-African trade.