The Vice President, Agriculture, of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Olasetemi Bode Thompson, has called on the Federal Government to launch a national initiative tagged “Operation No Idle Land” and declare a State of Emergency for Food Production to address Nigeria’s food security challenges.
Thompson made the call in a proposal addressed to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, the National Assembly and the Executive Governors of the 36 states of the federation.
He said the proposed initiative would provide a coordinated national framework for converting underutilised and potentially productive land into economic assets capable of driving food production, job creation, investment and national prosperity.
According to him, Nigeria has the land, human resources and natural endowments required to become one of the world’s leading agricultural economies, but the country needs a deliberate and coordinated strategy to translate its agricultural potential into increased productivity.
Thompson said his proposal was informed partly by agricultural study and farm visits he undertook in the United States, Canada, Israel and several European countries following his appointment as Vice President, Agriculture, of ACCI in December 2023.
He said the level of agricultural innovation, mechanisation, efficient land utilisation and value-chain integration witnessed in those countries reinforced his conviction that Nigeria could achieve significantly more from its agricultural resources.
Thompson identified the underutilisation of potentially productive land as one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria’s agricultural development.
He noted that the country was endowed with vast arable land, favourable climatic conditions and a youthful population capable of powering a modern agricultural economy.
However, he argued that significant portions of potentially productive land remained underutilised or completely idle at a time when millions of Nigerians were seeking employment and households were grappling with food affordability.
He stressed that the challenge was not simply the availability of land, but the ability to utilise it effectively through access to finance, infrastructure, technology, markets, security and an enabling policy environment.
“Nigeria therefore requires a bold and coordinated response that places productive land utilization at the center of its food security, employment and economic development strategy,” he said.
Thompson proposed Operation No Idle Land as a national framework to encourage and support the productive utilisation of land capable of contributing to economic development.
He emphasised that the initiative should not be punitive, but should combine land-use planning, incentives, financing, infrastructure, technical assistance, investment and responsible enforcement.
Under the proposed framework, landowners would be encouraged and supported to put their land to productive use through agriculture, agribusiness, agro-processing, industry or other approved economic activities.
They would also be encouraged to lease underutilised land to farmers, cooperatives, investors or companies with the capacity to develop it productively.
The proposal further recommends organised schemes and cooperatives that would enable landowners and other stakeholders to aggregate land, capital, technology and market access.
Thompson, however, acknowledged the need for safeguards where government intervention becomes necessary.
He proposed that, subject to constitutional and statutory provisions as well as due-process requirements, appropriate government action could be considered in relation to persistently abandoned or unlawfully held land for clearly defined public purposes.
He cautioned that any enforcement mechanism must protect legitimate property rights, guarantee due process and prevent abuse.
“The objective must remain productive utilization, not indiscriminate confiscation,” he said.
Beyond the land-use initiative, Thompson called for the declaration of a State of Emergency for Food Production, backed by a clear, measurable and time-bound national action plan.
He proposed that the Federal, State and Local Governments, private investors, farmers, financial institutions, research institutions and development partners should be mobilised around a common objective of increasing domestic food production and strengthening national food security.
The proposed intervention, he said, should also seek to reduce Nigeria’s vulnerability to supply shocks and excessive dependence on food imports.
Among the priority areas identified are affordable agricultural finance, irrigation and water management, mechanisation, improved seeds and fertilisers, extension services, training, research and technology.
Others include rural roads, storage and processing infrastructure, security for farming communities and agricultural investments, development of agricultural value chains and agro-processing clusters, sustainable market access and greater private-sector participation.
Thompson said Nigeria could draw useful lessons from countries that had successfully transformed their agricultural sectors, while adapting those lessons to local realities.
He cited the Netherlands as an example of how innovation, research, technology, logistics and value-chain integration could generate high agricultural productivity despite limited land resources.
Denmark, he said, provided useful lessons in cooperative farming, food processing, export development and farmer-to-market linkages, while Germany demonstrated the importance of spatial planning, infrastructure, research and the integration of agriculture with industry and manufacturing.
According to him, the central lesson for Nigeria is that land by itself does not guarantee agricultural prosperity.
“Productive land, supported by technology, finance, infrastructure, knowledge, security and markets, does,” he stated.
Six pillars proposed
For the proposed Operation No Idle Land initiative to succeed, Thompson outlined six key pillars.
The first is a National Land Audit and Mapping, under which government would undertake a coordinated digital audit and mapping of agricultural and other economically productive land in collaboration with state governments and relevant institutions.
The exercise, he said, would help identify underutilised land and provide reliable information for investment and development planning.
The second pillar is the establishment of Land Banks and Agricultural Clusters, with suitable land aggregated into properly planned zones where farmers, cooperatives, investors and agro-processors could operate within integrated agricultural ecosystems.
Under the proposal, landowners who voluntarily place their land into productive use could receive access to financing, technical assistance, infrastructure support, market linkages and applicable tax incentives.
The fourth pillar focuses on Youth and Women Participation, with deliberate measures to provide young Nigerians and women with access to land, finance, technology, training and markets.
Thompson said this would help make agriculture a viable and attractive enterprise for a broader segment of the population.
The fifth pillar is Public-Private Partnerships, through which government would create an enabling environment for private investors, financial institutions, technology companies, agribusinesses and development partners to participate in large-scale food production and agro-processing.
He stressed that farming communities, agricultural investments and supply routes must receive adequate security, while a transparent monitoring mechanism should track measurable outcomes.
These indicators, he said, should include hectares cultivated, food output, jobs created, investments attracted and reductions in post-harvest losses.
Thompson projected that a successful Operation No Idle Land programme could become a major driver of Nigeria’s economic transformation.
He said increased agricultural activity could create millions of jobs across farming, processing, logistics, storage and distribution, while increasing domestic food production and improving food security.
The initiative, he added, could reduce food imports, conserve foreign exchange, stimulate rural development through infrastructure and employment, and strengthen national security by creating more economic opportunities, particularly for young people.
It could also promote agro-industrialisation by strengthening the relationship between agricultural production, processing and manufacturing.
Furthermore, Thompson said, more competitive agricultural value chains would expand Nigeria’s export potential and enable the country to take greater advantage of regional and international markets.
The ACCI Vice President urged the Federal Government to convene a National Stakeholders’ Summit on Productive Land Use and Food Security as an immediate step towards developing the proposal.
He said the summit should bring together the Federal and State Governments, National Assembly, traditional institutions, farmers’ organisations, organised private sector, financial institutions, research institutions, development partners and other relevant stakeholders.
According to him, such a platform would provide an opportunity to develop the initiative into a practical, legally sound and economically sustainable national programme.
Thompson said the ACCI remained committed to supporting initiatives capable of promoting investment, enterprise development, food security and sustainable economic growth.
He warned that Nigeria could no longer afford a situation where potentially productive land remained idle while millions of Nigerians remained unemployed and households struggled with food affordability.
He therefore urged policymakers to transform idle land into productive assets, agricultural potential into economic power and the country’s youthful population into a productive workforce.
“Operation No Idle Land can become a national call to action: every productive hectare should contribute to feeding Nigeria, employing Nigerians and strengthening the Nigerian economy,” he said.
Thompson expressed readiness to engage further with the Federal Government and other stakeholders on developing the proposal, stressing that urgent and coordinated action was required to reposition agriculture as a strategic pillar of food security, employment generation, economic transformation and national stability.
