By Adam Said Adam, Kano
Rising global freight charges and surging domestic input costs are placing Nigeria’s agricultural sector under increasing strain, with farmers warning of shrinking profits and mounting production difficulties.
The President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Farouk Rabiu Mudi, said in an interview with Agro Climate News that escalating fuel prices are driving up transportation costs and worsening challenges across the agricultural value chain.
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According to him, the cost of moving agricultural produce has risen dramatically, triggering a ripple effect that is pushing food prices higher nationwide.
“Haulage costs have surged from between N400,000 and N800,000 to as high as N3 million to N4 million per trip on major routes,” Mudi said. “This increase is significantly affecting both producers and consumers.”
He explained that the spike in logistics costs is compounding long-standing structural issues within the sector, making it increasingly difficult for farmers to sustain production levels.
The situation is further aggravated by persistent global supply chain disruptions, which continue to inflate the cost of imported agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and agrochemicals.
Echoing these concerns, sesame farmer Ilyasu Ishak said the impact is already severe at the farm level, noting that the prices of key inputs—particularly fertilisers—have more than doubled over the past year.
“The rising cost of inputs is cutting deeply into our margins,” Ishak said. “Many farmers are struggling to maintain productivity because they can no longer afford the same level of input usage.”
He added that for export-oriented crops like sesame, the situation is even more complex, as foreign exchange volatility and high international shipping costs are undermining competitiveness and reducing farmers’ earnings.
Industry stakeholders warn that the combined effects of rising freight costs, input inflation, and currency instability are creating a fragile operating environment for Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
They emphasised that without targeted interventions to boost local production capacity and reduce reliance on imported inputs, the sector will remain vulnerable to external shocks.
Stakeholders are therefore calling for urgent investments in infrastructure, improved input distribution systems, and supportive policies to strengthen the agricultural value chain, stabilise production, and ensure long-term sustainability.
