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The Federal Government has announced plans to revive the country’s silo concession programme as part of efforts to reduce food wastage and strengthen food security. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, made this known during a high-level meeting with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
The meeting, led by ICRC’s Director-General, Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh, focused on evaluating the performance of concessionaires managing the country’s silo complexes and charting a new path to restore efficiency in post-harvest storage.
Senator Kyari stressed that Nigeria continues to record significant post-harvest losses estimated at $10 billion annually due to poor storage systems. He said the Tinubu administration’s agricultural transformation agenda cannot succeed without efficient storage facilities that guarantee year-round food availability.
“Storage facilities are essential to our food security drive, as they directly address wastage and ensure that staple crops remain available beyond the harvest season,” the minister said.
Kyari revealed that out of the 17 silo complexes across the country that were concessioned to five private operators, only Flour Mills of Nigeria has fully met its contractual obligations. The company, which operates three silo complexes through three separate Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), has consistently adhered to both financial and operational requirements.
In contrast, several other concessionaires have failed to bring their silo facilities into optimal operation. According to the minister, monitoring visits by officials showed little or no progress in many facilities, with some silos facing vandalisation and infrastructural decay. He specifically mentioned the Ikorodu and Ogoja complexes, where perimeter fences had collapsed due to neglect.
Kyari added that a number of concessionaires defaulted on their payment obligations, further weakening the government’s ability to manage food reserves. “We cannot continue to tolerate a situation where critical national assets are left idle while food waste remains a pressing challenge,” he said.
The minister assured that the government, in partnership with the ICRC, would intensify oversight functions to enforce compliance and ensure that only competent private operators are retained. He said the review of the concession programme would prioritise accountability, efficiency, and sustainability.
Speaking at the meeting, the ICRC Director-General, Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh, agreed that the silo concession programme must be restructured to deliver value. He emphasised that only companies with genuine operational needs for silos should continue in the scheme, while abandoned facilities must be repossessed by the government.
Ewalefoh also criticised some operators for failing to remit required payments to government coffers despite holding concession rights for years. He said such practices undermine the entire essence of the Public-Private Partnership model, which is designed to reduce government burden while ensuring private sector efficiency.
As part of the outcomes of the meeting, a special committee was inaugurated to review contractual clauses, assess performance records, and establish clear guidelines for monitoring and evaluation. The committee is expected to recommend sanctions against non-performing concessionaires and provide strategies for restoring abandoned silos.
Industry analysts believe that revamping the silo programme is critical to Nigeria’s food security. Post-harvest losses have remained one of the biggest threats to the country’s agricultural value chain, with millions of tonnes of crops like maize, rice, and sorghum wasted annually due to lack of proper storage.
Stakeholders say effective silo management could also help stabilise food prices by ensuring steady supply during periods of scarcity. It is also expected to encourage farmers to expand production, knowing that storage facilities are available to absorb excess output.
The renewed attention to silos comes at a time when Nigeria is grappling with high food inflation, driven by rising costs of production, insecurity in farming regions, and climate-related challenges. The government hopes that by restoring silos and enforcing accountability among operators, the country can make progress towards food and nutrition security as outlined in the Renewed Hope agenda.
