Effective Soil Management – Key to Nigeria\u2019s Sustainable Agriculture – Abdullahi<\/p>\n
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has said that strategic and robust soil management is the foundation of sustainable food production, environmental quality, and agricultural resilience.<\/p>\n
The Minister of State made this disclosure during the celebration of 2025 World Soil Day, held in Abuja today, Thursday, December 4, 2025.<\/p>\n
Abdullahi stated that Soil constitutes the backbone of the agricultural sector, supplying 95% of food and providing 15 of the 18 essential elements required for plant growth.<\/p>\n
The Minister noted that \u2018\u2019Soil supports crop growth and livestock production, purifies water, regulates climate, sequesters carbon, mitigates greenhouse gas emissions, and offers habitat for beneficial microorganisms, thereby supporting ecosystem services and biodiversity\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
“The World Soil Day will enable us to educate the public especially our esteemed farmers about soil conservation and its advantages, promote sustainable agricultural practices, support the Ministry\u2019s initiatives for soil health, encourage research, and advocate for policies that safeguard our soils.” He said<\/p>\n
In a statement by Ezeaja Ikemefuna, FMAFS’s Head of Information, Abdullahi reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry\u2019s vision \u2018\u2019to restore and uphold soil health, ensuring sustainable agriculture, food security, and enhanced livelihoods for all Nigerians\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
He highlighted federal government efforts towards improving soil management by the launch of Nigeria Farmers\u2019 Soil Health Scheme (NFSHS) in October with nearly 600 farmers and stakeholders in attendance, noting that the scheme is part of President Bola Tinubu\u2019s Renewed Hope Agenda for Food Security<\/p>\n
He enumerated the benefits of the programme to include –
\n*Crop- and location-specific fertilizer recommendations to curb indiscriminate fertilizer use, reduce pollution, and cut production costs.<\/p>\n
Promotion of organic amendments and regenerative agriculture practices to protect soil and water resources.<\/p>\n
The plan to establish soil-testing laboratories in all 774 local government areas, to be run by youth and women agripreneurs. Twelve laboratories, equipped with modern diagnostic tools which has already been installed across the six geopolitical zones\u2019<\/p>\n
According to.him, “We are implementing the Nairobi Declaration on African Fertilizer and Soil Health endorsed by African Heads of State, and strong collaboration with development partners including GIZ, Soil Values, AGRA, the World Bank\u2019s ACReSAL Project, Sasakawa Africa, IITA, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\u2019.<\/p>\n
Abdullahi added that \u2018\u2019another significant milestone achieved is the incorporation of the NFSHS into the federal budget and the organization of stakeholder workshops leading to the establishment of the Coalition of the Willing (CoW) platform and Readiness Assessment\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
On the operational front, he added, training sessions for laboratory technicians and technologists regarding the use of Soil Health Card modules were held in Oyo and Kano States earlier in 2025, along with readiness assessments and pilot soil analyses conducted in 12 states across the six geopolitical zones.<\/p>\n
The Minister, while emphasizing government’s dogged commitment to repositioning the Nigerian agriculture landscape, disclosed that there is a strong synergy with both local and international partners to rejuvenate degraded soil across the country<\/p>\n
In conclusion, he stated further that “state-of-the-art soil laboratory equipment has been deployed and successfully installed for operations in twelve states across the six geo-political zones of the country.<\/p>\n
In a goodwill message, President, Nigerian Institute of Soil Science (NISS), Prof. Abubakar Musa Kundiri, represented by the Vice President, Prof Olumuyiwa James Jayeoba, said the theme \u201cHealthy Soils, Healthy Cities\u201d reflects a growing understanding that soil health is central not only to agriculture but also to urban sustainability.<\/p>\n
Kundiri reiterated NISS\u2019s commitment to promoting evidence-based soil management, ethical fertilizer use, urban agriculture, and the enforcement of the Soil Science Profession Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Effective Soil Management – Key to Nigeria\u2019s Sustainable Agriculture – Abdullahi The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has said that strategic and robust soil management is the foundation of sustainable food production, environmental quality, and agricultural resilience. The Minister of State made this disclosure during the celebration of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":149368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[243,18,20],"tags":[2555,2556,2554],"class_list":{"0":"post-149366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agriculture","8":"category-news","9":"category-the-nation","10":"tag-2025-world-soil-day","11":"tag-effective-soil-management","12":"tag-senator-aliyu-abdullahi"},"yoast_head":"\n