Kano State has warned that it will prosecute dealers caught selling counterfeit farm chemicals, after complaints from smallholder farmers whose crops were damaged by adulterated products. The Executive Secretary of the state's crop protection agency, Dr Ibrahim Garba Muhammad, issued the warning at a meeting with the newly elected executive of the Kano State Agrochemical Dealers Association, according to Daily Post.
Ruined Crops in the Fields
The agency said it had received several complaints from smallholder farmers, particularly in the Kura and Garun Malam Local Government Areas, where fake and heavily diluted farm chemicals damaged crops and cut harvests, the same report noted. Muhammad said the circulation of counterfeit inputs undermines food security and "bankrupts our hardworking farmers," pledging to apply the full weight of regulatory law against vendors who compromise quality.
A Problem Bigger Than One State
The enforcement drive reflects a wider battle over input quality. Officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Zamfara paraded a suspect arrested in Gusau with 550 bags of suspected counterfeit fertiliser loaded for distribution, in a case involving the unlawful manufacture and false labelling of a known fertiliser brand, according to AllAfrica. On seeds, the National Agricultural Seed Council has stepped up nationwide surveillance with support from the Civil Defence Corps and agro-rangers under a 2025 to 2029 plan to overhaul the seed industry, as Prime Progress reported. The Federal Government has separately pledged tougher measures to clear fake seeds from circulation and to curb agrochemical residue levels that have caused Nigerian produce to be rejected abroad, according to Punch.
Every bag of fake fertiliser or diluted herbicide is a smaller harvest, and smaller harvests eventually reach the market as higher prices. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices across Lagos markets, where the cost of a failed planting season is finally paid.