Nigeria Guarantees Minimum Prices for Grains to Shield Farmers from Market Volatility
The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched a guaranteed minimum price scheme for grains to protect farmers from losses caused by falling commodity prices. Under the Renewed Hope Guaranteed Minimum Price Programme, eligible maize farmers will receive N350,000 per tonne, while sorghum and soybeans will also be purchased at this rate.
The programme is aimed at covering more than 11.5 million households and is expected to aggregate over 500,000 tonnes of grains. The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) will manage the programme and purchase grains through farmer aggregation companies, with payments made directly into farmers' bank accounts.
According to Ayo Sotinrin, Managing Director of the BOA, the intervention was introduced after prices of major cereals fell below import parity in 2024 and 2025. He noted that some grain prices had fallen as low as N180,000 per tonne, while others were selling for about N250,000.
The programme will also help to prevent grain prices from becoming excessively high by releasing stored grains at subsidised prices when market prices rise sharply.