The Federal Government and key agricultural stakeholders have raised concern, calling on farmers and investors across the country to embrace organic farming for a healthier and more sustainable food system.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 9th National Organic and Agroecology Business Summit (NOABS), themed ‘Upscaling Common Market Platforms for Organic and Agroecological Products and Produce in Nigeria’, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, said that Nigerian farmers must not only embrace but also sustain organic farming practices as part of the country’s plan to improve food safety and public health.
Represented by an official of the Ministry, Williams Ekpe, Ogunbiyi stated that the Ministry has placed organic and agro-ecological principles at the center of its agricultural policies and programs to promote a more resilient and sustainable sector.
The two-day 2025 NOABS edition gathered government ministries, agencies, researchers, academia, investors, exhibitors, farmers, youth, and the media, highlighting the growing importance of organic agriculture to Nigeria’s future.
In his address, Ogunbiyi said, “Let’s make sure our smallholder farmers along with women and young people stay at the heart of these efforts right where real change begins. In the soil beneath their hands, representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, I am proud to reinstate our firm commitment to programmes that ensure a safe food system, restore healthy soil, and strengthen lasting livelihoods right down to the farms where fresh air still smells new after rain.”
He further stated that the Ministry is committed to mainstreaming organic and agro-ecological principles into national agricultural policies and frameworks, adding that the goal is to create an inclusive system that supports food security, climate action, and economic development.
“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has made it a priority to mainstream organic and agro-ecological principles into national agricultural policies and programmes,” he said. “By actively partnering with respective governments, departments, academic institutions, and farmer organizations, we are facilitating a robust policy framework, quality assurance mechanisms, and strengthening the capacity of stakeholders involved in the regulation and production of organic products.”
Ogunbiyi noted that modern agriculture should go beyond productivity to embrace sustainability, inclusiveness, and innovation, emphasizing that organic farming and agroecology remain the future of food production.
He added, “Therefore, this summit gives stakeholders a rare chance to share ideas, build strong partnerships, and map out clear next steps to grow the organic and agro-ecological value chain from farm fields to food processing and market share. As we celebrate this Summit, I urge everyone to zero in on practical ways to expand organic farming and agro-ecological practices across Nigeria.”
Delivering the keynote address, the Mandate Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Comrade Abdullahi Ango, represented by Mustapha Mohammed, described organic and agroecology-based practices as the best approach to food production. He stressed that these methods are not only profitable but also preserve the dignity of farmers while improving the environment.
“The best food production practice is the organic and agroecology approach, and therefore, farmers need to accept and adopt these practices for high profitability and dignity,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Organic Agroecology Initiative of Nigeria (ORAIN) and Founder of Gotomo Farms, Abubakar Gotomo, explained that the goal of the Summit is to drive the nationwide adoption of organic farming to ensure the production of healthy food and environmental protection.
“We are promoting organic farming and ecological farming in order to protect our environment. We are into this after realizing the threat and the rapid degradation of our soil and the farmland as a result of excessive use of chemicals, chemical fertilizer, and other pesticides,” Gotomo said.
He warned that the excessive use of chemical inputs in agriculture is severely damaging farmlands and poses a serious threat to food security in Nigeria.
“So, the excessive use of chemical inputs into agricultural practices is gradually degrading our farmlands, which is a very, very serious threat to food security. So to safeguard that, we come up to ensure that our farmers are mobilized, our government is encouraged to embrace organic practice and respect agroecology,” he stated.
Gotomo also explained that agroecology respects the natural ecosystem, emphasizing that every element of the environment plays a role in maintaining balance. “Agroecology is to respect the nature, the ecosystem, each variable in the ecosystem is playing a key role in safeguarding the environment, may it be insects because there are useful insects. The trees are there that are helping us to get our oxygen that we are breathing,” he added.
He called on the Federal Government to establish an institutional framework to support and guarantee the practice of organic and agroecological methods across the country’s food systems.
The National Coordinator of ORAIN, Prof. Olugbenga Adeoluwa, also shared insights on the essence of the 2025 NOABS, saying the Summit aims to build strong synergy between government bodies and private sector organizations to deepen the adoption of organic and agroecology practices in Nigeria’s food systems.
“We are here to mark the 2025 edition of what we call the National Organic and Agroecology Business Summit, NOABS, which is a platform for networking and collaboration in organic and agroecological businesses in the country,” Adeoluwa said. “The system we are talking about involves the marketing of organic and agroecological produce and products in the country, which is intended to increase the potential of the sector in the country.”
He added that the organic farming sector goes beyond agriculture, connecting with areas such as health, environment, trade, tourism, and women’s empowerment.
“We are not just looking at agriculture, we are looking at it also from the perspective of health, from the perspective of trade, from the perspective of tourism, from the perspective of environment, from the perspective of women issues, from the perspective of both domestic and international export trade in different dimensions because organic and agroecology are not just issues of agriculture,” Adeoluwa explained.
According to him, organic farming and agroecology ensure food safety, promote healthy living, and protect the environment. “It is only in respect to that agroecology will ensure the safety of our environment, the increased productivity of food, which is safe, healthy and good to the human existence, and through this practice, we are so certain that food security will be achieved,” he stated.
