Grain glut, income drought: Repairing Nigeria’s broken commodity markets

    Oluyemi Adeosun | Insights | Feb 16, 2026    
Get Unlimited Access
Subscribe to unlock this article

Complete digital access to quality journalism on any device. Cancel anytime during your trial.

Once registered, you can:

  • Read this article and many more, including access to epapers and research
  • Enjoy customize article feed/recommendation based on your profile
  • Enjoy access to Businessday exclusive events
  • One-Access accross Businessday platforms

Share this article
Shared
4566
times

In the grain markets of Saminaka in Kaduna State and across trading hubs in Kano State, a troubling refrain now echoes: business has collapsed. Grain merchants who once struggled to keep up with demand now sit beside unsold maize. Farmers who invested heavily in fertiliser and labour harvest crops they cannot sell at remunerative prices. According to field accounts and corroborated by the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) team survey, farm gate prices for key staples have fallen by as much as 70 percent, even as input costs remain elevated. A bag of fertiliser purchased for over N50,000 yields maize that sells for less than N20,000 per bag. For producers who previously harvested 30 bags but now manage barely 15, the economics simply no longer add up. What we are witnessing is not a routine seasonal dip but a systemic breakdown in market coordination, liquidity and price transmission across Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.

Continue reading your article with a
BusinessDay subscription





Already a subscriber?
Sign In
RECOMMENDED STORIES
support_agent