Nigeria’s Presidential Fertiliser Initiative is ramping up efforts to ensure farmers have consistent access to fertiliser, part of a broader push to boost food production and cut dependence on imports.

Launched in 2016 as a key pillar of the government’s food security agenda, the programme has now advanced into its next phase, PFI 3.0.

In a Saturday statement, the Ministry of Finance Incorporated said the initiative is structured to supply raw materials to fertiliser blending plants nationwide, guaranteeing farmers access to key inputs for both food and industrial crops.

By September 2025, the volume of raw materials delivered or on order had already surpassed the total for the entire 2024 season.

Additional deals with international fertiliser producers have been secured to stock warehouses across the country.

Official data shows that blending plants can now access raw materials in line with their full production capacity.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated,
Armstrong Takang, said the PFI is designed to protect farmers from market volatility while enabling long-term planning.

“We are meticulously building a system that can insulate farmers from global market shocks and instil the confidence needed for long-term agricultural planning. We see the PFI as a prime example of public–private collaboration that can solve complex national challenges, and its future is a testament to Nigeria’s capacity for strategic reform,” he said.

The initiative has so far enabled the production of over 128 million bags of fertiliser distributed directly to farmers nationwide, with more than 4.5 million metric tonnes manufactured between 2021 and 2024.

The President of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria, Sadiq Kassim, credited the expanding network of blending plants as central to achieving this scale of output.

“We have witnessed significant improvement in productive capacity since the PFI’s inception. The number of operational blending plants has increased to over 90 across the country, giving us a total blending capacity of up to 13 million metric tonnes. This capacity is critical in ensuring fertiliser is consistently available for our farmers, bringing it closer to their farms and reducing transportation costs,” he said.