KEFFI, Nasarawa State – The Dangote Group has reinforced its commitment to revitalizing Nigeria’s agricultural sector through its sponsorship of the 17th National Agricultural Show, which opens today in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
The conglomerate’s backing of this year’s event, themed “Employing Smallholder Farmers: Restoring Value, Ensuring Productivity Will Ensure Attainment of Food Security in Nigeria,” underscores its strategic push to position agriculture as a cornerstone of national economic growth and youth employment.
Company spokesman Anthony Chiejina emphasized the sector’s transformative potential, stating: “Restoring the value of agriculture offers Nigeria more than nostalgic appeal; it provides a pragmatic route to economic renewal. With the right incentives and modern practices, agriculture can once again serve as a reliable engine of growth.”
The Agricultural Show, a flagship event in Nigeria’s farming calendar, serves as a critical platform for showcasing innovations across the agricultural value chain and promoting commercial farming participation.
Significant investments detailed by the group include the development of rice mills across Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, and Sokoto States with a combined milling capacity of 1.5 million tonnes annually. These projects align with federal government initiatives to achieve food security through enhanced local production.
Senior Adviser to the President of Dangote Group, Mrs. Fatima Wali-Abdurrahman, highlighted the company’s comprehensive approach to agricultural development, noting substantial investments in backward-integration projects within the sugar sub-sector in Nasarawa and Adamawa States, alongside the operational 3 million metric tonnes per annum fertilizer complex in Lagos.
Arc Kabiru Adamu, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria, acknowledged Dangote’s sustained partnership, describing the conglomerate as “our greatest ally from inception” whose support has been instrumental to the show’s continued success.
The event is expected to draw unprecedented participation from farm machinery manufacturers, processors, researchers, and youth and women farmers, all responding to the urgent call to strengthen Nigeria’s food systems amid ongoing economic challenges.
