Iliyasu Abdullahi Bah
Farmers across the northeast region of Nigeria are raising urgent concerns over the skyrocketing cost of fertilizers, which has made the crucial farm input increasingly unaffordable, creating a conflicting situation that threatens to cripple food production.
The alarming price disparity between agricultural inputs and outputs has left farmers in severe financial distress, with many reporting they will now operate at a loss as the cost of a 50kg bag of fertilizer now ranges between ₦45,000 to ₦50,000, while food items like maize, millet, sorghum, and rice have seen price drops in the markets of Taraba, Yobe, Gombe, and Borno states.
Local farmers report that the current price disparity means they must sell two and a half bags of maize just to purchase one bag of fertilizer—a completely unsustainable equation that is forcing many to consider abandoning farming altogether.
In Taraba State, traditionally the breadbasket of the northeast, farmers like Bello Taraba of Jalingo lament that the price of new maize has dropped to just ₦19,000–₦20,000 per 100kg, while production costs have more than doubled, making it impossible to turn a profit.
The crisis is compounded by widespread complaints about failed government interventions, with farmers like Mohammed Baana in Damaturu reporting that promised subsidized fertilizers never materialized despite official distribution by some state governments.
Hamidu Me Atampa, a sorghum farmer, attributes the drastic drop in food prices to “the will of God,” but admits the situation is crippling agriculture across the region. “This price crash will force countless farmers into losses, setting back both our livelihoods and Nigeria’s food security,” he lamented.
The crisis has hit large-scale producers like Hajiya Maryam. Investing heavily to cultivate over 30 bags of sorghum, and spending on fertilizers, labor, tractor services, and transportation, she finds the current market prices utterly demoralizing. “After all our sweat and investment, seeing our harvest valued so low breaks our hearts,” she told The Journal.
Anger is boiling over among farmers. Mohammed Kabir voiced the growing frustration: “We are done with farming!” he declared. “When a bag of fertilizer costs more than our entire harvest of sorghum, millet or rice, why should we keep planting? We’re not just breaking even—we are losing capital.”
In Yobe’s Gujba LGA, dissatisfaction runs deep. Mohammed Ibrahim of Nannawaji village stares at financial ruin with his five bags of millet. “Even if I sell everything, it won’t cover half my cultivation costs,” he explained. “Last season’s prices made farming viable. Now? We are being pushed into poverty.”
The alarming price collapse, coming amid skyrocketing input costs, has created what agricultural economists warn could become a full-blown production crisis, with farmers across the grain belt threatening to abandon their fields.
Agricultural experts attribute the fertilizer price surge to a perfect storm of global supply chain disruptions, rising production costs, the naira’s depreciation against major currencies, and systemic failures in government subsidy distribution systems.
This unsustainable situation has created a dangerous contradiction where farmers face high production costs while receiving diminishing returns for their harvests, with many now operating at significant losses that threaten their ability to continue farming.
Analysts warn of mass farmer exits from agriculture, reduced cultivation in the current season, and potentially another devastating food crisis in 2025 if immediate action is not taken.
Farmers’ associations are calling for government intervention to stabilize fertilizer prices through direct subsidies, improve distribution systems for agricultural inputs, implement price support mechanisms for staple crops, and accelerate domestic fertilizer production to reduce import dependence.
The crisis highlights the broken state of Nigeria’s food production systems and the urgent need for comprehensive policy reforms to protect both farmers’ livelihoods and the nation’s food security—serving as a stark warning of the potential for widespread agricultural collapse if structural issues in the sector are not addressed immediately.