Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for the reintroduction of agriculture in Nigerian schools as part of broader efforts to strengthen food security and economic stability.
Shettima made the call on Saturday in Abuja at the General Assembly of Farmers. He was represented at the event by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Uju Rochas-Anwukah.
According to the Vice President, agriculture should return to schools not merely as an academic subject but as a culture that shapes the values and mindset of young Nigerians.
He said schools should operate functional farms, while agriculture clubs should be revived to teach students food production, land use and agribusiness.
“Agriculture must return to our schools. We must reintroduce agriculture as culture, not just curriculum,” Shettima said.
“Every school should have functional farms. Agriculture clubs must return—not only to teach planting, but to shape the mindset.
“Our children must grow up knowing that food is wealth, that land is power, that farming is business, and that agriculture is not punishment, but a possibility.”
He stressed that agriculture remains the foundation of national development, noting that no country can industrialise without first securing its agricultural base.
“Because the fundamentals of life—food, shelter, clothing—begin from the soil. And no nation industrialises without first securing its agricultural foundation,” he added.
Shettima also criticised the long-standing perception of farming as a low-status occupation, describing it as harmful to Nigeria’s development and food security.
“For too long in our dear nation, farming has been treated as a last option—a job for those who could not make it,” he said. “That thinking is not just wrong; it is destructive. It has cost Nigeria food security, jobs, stability and national pride.”
He called on leaders and public institutions to be directly involved in agriculture, describing farming as a nation-building profession that should be embraced across all levels of society.
“Leadership must farm. Leadership cannot continue to govern agriculture from conference rooms alone,” Shettima said, adding that national institutions such as the Armed Forces, the National Youth Service Corps and paramilitary agencies should sustain institutional farms.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd), acknowledged the security challenges facing farmers and assured them of the government’s commitment to improving safety in farming communities.
He urged farmers to report security threats, stressing that protecting farmers was critical to national food production.
In his opening address, the President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Dr Farouk Mudi, highlighted the impact of climate change, rising input costs and insecurity on agricultural productivity.
He said delayed rainfall, flooding and the high cost of fertiliser were affecting farming activities nationwide.
“We are witnessing the vanishing harmattan and erratic rainfall patterns,” Mudi said, noting that rainfall in the Savannah belt was delayed by nearly 21 days last year, followed by floods that destroyed over 500,000 hectares of rice and maize.
He added that the cost of fertiliser had more than doubled, rising from N26,000 per bag of NPK two years ago to over N53,000, while prices of agrochemicals had increased by about 300 per cent.
Mudi also described Nigeria’s livestock sector as being in crisis, despite the country’s large livestock population.
“Nigeria is a livestock powerhouse with 21 million cattle, 43 million sheep and 82 million goats, yet we spend $1.5 billion annually importing milk and dairy products,” he said.
According to him, farmer-herder conflicts have claimed over 10,000 lives and destroyed property worth more than N500 billion in the past decade, while over three million cattle have been lost to rustling and unplanned migration.
He said AFAN supports the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which aims to promote settled ranching and reduce conflicts between farmers and herders.
“Security is the first input of agriculture,” Mudi said, adding that Nigeria spends about $10 billion annually importing food items such as wheat, sugar and fish.
He noted that agriculture was once central to Nigeria’s education system and rural economy, but declining emphasis on practical farming in schools, coupled with insecurity, climate challenges and rising food imports, has weakened local food production and discouraged young people from entering the sector.
