The NFSHS marks a significant move toward transforming Nigeria’s agricultural landscape.

In a bold step toward strengthening food security, the Federal Government has officially launched the Nigerian Farmers’ Soil Health Scheme (NFSHS) - an initiative aimed at equipping farmers with vital knowledge and tools to better manage their soil for improved productivity and profitability.

The launch took place in Abuja on Tuesday, with Aliyu Abdullahi,Deputy Minister of Agriculture, highlighting the importance of soil management in line with the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The scheme is positioned as a game-changer for agriculture in Nigeria, focusing on climate-smart practices, sustainable land use, and regenerative farming.

According to Abdullahi, the initiative is designed to deliver real-time insights into soil conditions, enabling farmers to boost yields, reduce input costs, and adopt smarter, more efficient farming methods. “The objectives include assessing soil health status, ensuring proper fertiliser use, promoting regenerative farming, enhancing food security, and enabling data-driven insights,” he said.

By offering tailored information about soil nutrients what’s present, what’s lacking, and how to amend it - the NFSHS promises not just better harvests, but also improved land stewardship for future generations. “The NFSHS provides information on what nutrients the soil has, what it lacks, and how to treat it right,” Abdullahi added.

But beyond the technical benefits, the programme is also about empowering farmers. “When a farmer understands their soil, they can plan better, harvest better, and pass on healthier land to their children. When we care for the soil, the soil cares for us. And when farmers are informed, they can thrive,” he emphasised.

The scheme is expected to help shape future agricultural policy by generating crucial data on soil conditions across the country. It will also promote efficient use of fertilisers and other inputs, helping to cut costs and reduce environmental impact.

Describing the launch as a turning point, Abdullahi said: “This is the beginning of a new season, one where every Nigerian farmer cultivates with knowledge, power, and peace of mind for a renewed hope.”

The NFSHS marks a significant move toward transforming Nigeria’s agricultural landscape - one that places soil health at the core of sustainable food production.

Nigeria risks losing its position as one of Africa's leading cashew exporters.

The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has raised serious concerns regarding the disruptive activities of foreign middlemen within the country's cashew sector

Ademola Adesokan, NCAN's National President, criticised foreign traders for bypassing standard protocols and directly purchasing cashews from local farmers at inflated prices. These actions, Adesokan argues, are exploiting farmers and damaging the integrity of the industry.

Foreign buyers are taking advantage of local farmers by purchasing cashews at the farm gate without adhering to established international trade standards. Adesokan highlighted that these middlemen often export the produce without regard for proper regulatory oversight, further exacerbating the challenges facing Nigeria's cashew industry. “Our farmers are being exploited at the farm gate,” Adesokan said “The industry is in urgent need of structure to protect the integrity of the supply chain.”

The influx of unregulated foreign traders has led to severe economic hardship for farmers, many of whom are unable to secure fair prices for their crops. Adesokan emphasised that the absence of effective regulation is leaving farmers vulnerable and driving them into debt due to unstable market conditions.

Olarotimi Ayeka, NCAN’s National General Secretary, echoed these concerns, highlighting the significant financial losses suffered by the industry. Foreign traders, Ayeka explained, often bypass local processors and engage directly with farmers, disrupting the established cashew value chain. This practice not only damages local markets but also leads to the export of immature cashews, worsening the oversupply situation.

“These traders only operate during the peak season, buying massively in February and March, and then disappearing by April,” Ayeka explained. “When they leave, they often take the cashews with them, leaving local markets flooded with unsold stock.”

The crisis is compounded by internal divisions within NCAN itself, with some members reportedly colluding with foreign buyers for personal gain. This has hindered efforts to address the ongoing issues and stabilise the sector.

The disruption to the cashew industry has raised alarms about Nigeria’s future in the global market. Adesokan warned that if the government does not intervene soon, Nigeria risks losing its position as one of Africa's leading cashew exporters. “If the government does not take action to address these challenges, Nigeria risks losing its position as a leading cashew producer, and the entire industry will continue to suffer,” he concluded.

While achieving 40 percent traceability marks progress, wide gaps remain.

Côte d’Ivoire has reported that it successfully traced 40 percent of its cocoa production during the 2024/25 season, running from October to September, according to the most recent Cocoa Barometer report.

The 200‑page examination of the global chocolate industry touches on critical issues such as poverty, deforestation and human rights, and underscores that weak traceability persists as a central flaw in Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa value chain. Much of the nation’s cocoa production is still channelled through fragmented systems. The study highlights that sourcing often passes through multiple intermediaries, rather than linking farmers directly to processors. This opacity hinders efforts to monitor environmental impact or hold parties accountable for deforestation and unsustainable practices.

Indeed, the report estimates that 60 percent of Ivorian cocoa remains untraced  a figure broadly in line with prior research. A 2023 study by Trase and UCLouvain found that 55 percent of cocoa exported in 2019 lacked traceability. Researcher Cécile Rénier points out that weak institutional ties between cooperatives and smallholders aggravate the problem: farmers may sell to multiple buyers or even informal agents, while cooperatives sometimes buy from non‑members to meet volume goals. This weakens accountability and complicates efforts to verify that the cocoa declared actually originates from the claimed plots.

At the policy level, this report emerges amid debates over the European Union’s deforestation regulation set to ban imports linked to forest loss. Though its implementation has been delayed to 2026, traceability is now more urgent than ever, since the EU receives 55 percent of Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa and cocoa product exports. In response, Côte d’Ivoire has introduced a National Coffee‑Cocoa Traceability System, launched in September 2023, to record commercial transactions and enable tracking of individual sacks. Between 2019 and 2020, the Coffee and Cocoa Board (CCC) conducted a detailed census of farmers and their plots, and in 2022 began issuing identity cards to farmers that include plot sizes and ownership details. To date, approximately 855,000 of the 993,000 registered farmers have received these cards, covering more than 3.2 million hectares of cocoa and coffee land.

While achieving 40 percent traceability marks progress, wide gaps remain. Strengthening transparency across the supply chain, deepening integration of trace systems, and forging more dependable connections between farmers and buyers are vital for enhancing sustainability. Only then can Côte d’Ivoire hope to align with export standards and shield its cocoa sector from deforestation, environmental harm and human rights abuses.

The goal is to help farmers, designers and artisans move up the chain, build climate resilience, and create fairer trade opportunities.

On World Cotton Day 2025, celebrated at FAO headquarters in Rome, Africa’s cotton sector took centre stage as stakeholders emphasised a bold shift toward sustainable, value‑added trade to underpin inclusive industrialisation and climate‑smart growth under the AfCFTA framework

Cotton still lies at the heart of many African rural economies from Chad and Burkina Faso through to Zambia and Tanzania but the industry now faces growing headwinds. Export dynamics are changing: the benefits once enjoyed under AGOA are expiring, and buyers demand higher sustainability standards. Meanwhile, farmers wrestle with unpredictable rainfall, degrading soils, constrained finances and weak access to agricultural innovations. A significant portion of the cotton harvested continues to be shipped off the continent as raw fibre, meaning African nations forego the higher revenues and employment that come with processing and manufacturing.

At the Rome gathering, organisations such as ITC, FAO, WTO, UNIDO and African governments reaffirmed their resolve to deepen the cotton‑to‑clothing value chain across the continent. The goal is to help farmers, designers and artisans move up the chain, build climate resilience, and create fairer trade opportunities. In Tanzania and Zambia, for instance, smallholders are trialling climate‑smart approaches: instead of burning crop residues, they convert them into biochar to restore soil fertility and cut emissions. Over 10,000 Tanzanian farmers employed these practices in a year, seeing yield rises of up to 20%. In Zambia, around 130,000 farmers doubled their output while tapping into the world’s first cotton‑linked carbon credits.

Elsewhere, in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, women artisans and emerging fashion creators are transforming African cotton into high‑value textile goods. Through partnerships with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), they access global markets and elevate Africa’s design identity. At the manufacturing end, support schemes such as ITC’s GTEX/MENATEX and the UK Trade Partnerships (UKTP) are helping firms in Egypt, Ethiopia and Tanzania to scale, improve competitiveness, and expand trade within Africa and beyond.

The ambition is bold: under AfCFTA’s umbrella, cotton can evolve from a raw export into a vibrant, sustainable industry. African governments and partners are pushing for investment in regional processing, compliance with sustainability norms, and smart trade strategies. In this renewed vision, cotton ceases to be merely a crop it becomes a conduit for economic empowerment, climate action, and pride. The aspiration is clear: an Africa where cotton is not only cultivated, but processed, designed and traded, sustaining both communities and a more equitable future.