CPPE urges farm price stabilisation framework to protect farmers, strengthen food security

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the Federal Government to urgently establish a rules-based farm price stabilisation and farmer income protection framework to ensure sustainable food security and economic stability in Nigeria.

In a policy brief released on February 1, 2026, Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf warned that recent food security strategies have created troubling trade-offs. While consumers have benefited from declining food prices and easing inflation, farmers and agricultural investors

investors are reportedly suffering heavy losses due to the collapse in commodity prices. The organisation acknowledged the welfare gains from cheaper food but stressed that the cost to producers across the agricultural value chain is significant and cannot be ignored. 

According to CPPE, Nigeria must balance the dual objectives of keeping food affordable while safeguarding farmer incomes and sustaining investment in agriculture. 

CPPE noted that surging imports of staple crops such as rice, maize, and soybeans have disrupted the agricultural investment ecosystem, weakening incentives for production and threatening long-term food security. 

The group cautioned that although lower prices may benefit consumers in the short term, the long-term consequences could include falling production, weakened investor confidence, and renewed cycles of scarcity.  The policy brief identified several structural factors driving recurring price collapses, including harvest gluts, inadequate storage facilities, weak rural logistics, and limited processing capacity. These conditions often force farmers to sell produce immediately after harvest at low prices, only for prices to spike later when supply declines. 

To address the challenge, CPPE proposed the introduction of Minimum Guaranteed Prices (MGP) for priority commodities such as maize, rice, sorghum, and soybeans. The system would serve as a stabilising backstop, allowing government intervention when market prices fall below support levels while maintaining a market-friendly approach. 

The organisation also recommended urgent reforms to Nigeria’s Strategic Grain Reserves, suggesting that government should purchase grains during harvest periods when prices drop and release them during lean seasons to reduce volatility and strengthen food security. 

Among other measures, CPPE advocated nationwide expansion of the Warehouse Receipt System to help farmers access credit using stored produce as collateral, thereby reducing distress sales. 

It also urged structured institutional procurement linking farmers to programmes such as school feeding schemes, military supply chains, and emergency relief operations. The group further emphasised the need for investment in agro-logistics, including aggregation centres, modern silos, cold-chain systems, and refrigerated transport, alongside the development of processing clusters near production zones to absorb surplus harvests and create value-added jobs. 

CPPE stressed that lowering the cost of farm inputs such as fertilisers, improved seeds, agrochemicals, and machinery remains critical to boosting productivity, calling for single-digit loan facilities and improved technical support for farm. Dr. Muda Yusuf, said stabilising farmer incomes is essential to Nigeria’s agricultural transformation, noting that price collapses erode incentives to farm, reduce output over time, and worsen rural poverty.

He urged federal and state governments, development finance institutions, commodity exchanges, and private investors to collaborate in building a transparent and fiscally sustainable framework that supports private enterprise while strengthening national food security.