Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday said Nigeria is deploying artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to transform its food systems, signaling a shift in the country’s approach to food security at a time when climate shocks, conflicts, and market disruptions are intensifying global hunger.
Speaking at the opening session of the United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) in Addis Ababa, Shettima said AI, geospatial analytics, and satellite-driven climate intelligence are now central to Nigeria’s agricultural strategy.
”Artificial intelligence, geospatial analytics, and satellite-driven climate intelligence are now part of our agricultural vocabulary.”
We are deploying these tools to monitor production, enhance transparency, connect producers to markets, and reduce waste across the value chain.
”Our faith in the capacity of our people remains unshaken. In partnership with the African Development Bank and IFAD, we are investing in Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones. These hubs are not just places of production. They are engines of transformation.”
He said that they were creating jobs, attracting private capital, and linking rural producers to national and global markets.
The vice-president added, ” But production is not enough. We believe that a sustainable food system must also be a healthy one.”
Some context
The summit, building on the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit and the first stocktake in 2023, is focused on accelerating efforts to create resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems. For Nigeria, Shettima noted, food and nutrition security are now at the heart of the National Development Plan 2021–2025 and the Nigeria Agenda 2050.
He cited ongoing investments in Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, developed in partnership with the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The zones, he said, aim to generate jobs, attract private capital, and integrate rural farmers into national and global supply chains.
But Shettima stressed that boosting production alone is insufficient. Nigeria has scaled up school feeding programs, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and community-led nutrition education initiatives. Through the Nutrition 774 initiative, he explained, all of Nigeria’s 774 local governments are being placed at the center of nutrition delivery.
“This is more than a summit. This is a reckoning,” Shettima said. “The scars of conflict, the uncertainties of climate, the distortions of markets, and the missteps in policy are all calling us to renew our commitment to multilateralism. A broken food system in any part of the world diminishes the dignity of humanity as a whole.”
What to know
The Federal Executive Council has also approved the National Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition, intended to operationalize Nigeria’s revised food and nutrition policy. In addition, new Nutrition Departments are being created across relevant ministries to strengthen governance and accountability.
The urgency of such reforms was echoed by other leaders at the summit. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for predictable concessional financing for African agriculture, warning that hunger and climate change are “deeply linked.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in a recorded message, said food systems are about “more than food, they are about climate, justice, and the right to a better future.”
Despite global pledges, hunger has been rising. Guterres warned that economic slowdowns, conflicts, and declining development assistance have undermined progress since 2021. Yet, as Shettima emphasized, Nigeria intends to position itself as a leader in shaping resilient food systems that not only meet immediate needs but also secure long-term sustainability.
