The Nigerian Senate has advanced three food security bills through plenary following the presentation of committee reports, moving the country closer to a legislative framework that could reshape how staple food supply is managed at the national level. All three bills are sponsored by Senator Salihu Mustapha, who represents Kwara Central and chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. The Punch and NALTF reported on the advancement of the bills in April 2026.
The National Food Reserve Agency Bill
The first bill, the National Food Reserve Agency (Establishment) Bill, 2026, designated Senate Bill 139, seeks to create a dedicated federal agency responsible for the storage, management, and distribution of strategic grain reserves. The agency's mandate is to move Nigeria away from reactive, ad-hoc responses to food shortages toward a structured stockpiling system capable of deploying reserves rapidly during national emergencies, including natural disasters, conflicts, and market disruptions. "It will empower the agency to serve as a buffer against food shortages by maintaining a strategic grain reserve that can be deployed swiftly during national emergencies," Senator Mustapha said at the plenary session, according to Punch.
The absence of a formalised national reserve system has left Nigeria repeatedly exposed to price spikes whenever domestic supply is disrupted. Flooding in major producing states, insecurity across the North-West and North-Central food belts, and the unpredictability of global commodity markets have each triggered sharp food price surges in Lagos and other urban centres in recent years.
The Cassava Policy Coordination Council Bill
The second bill, the National Cassava Policy Coordination Council Bill, 2026 (SB 254), targets industrial processing. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava, yet a large portion of the sector's potential remains untapped at the factory level. The bill would establish a central coordinating body to oversee mandatory cassava flour inclusion in edible flour production and to drive the use of cassava in bio-ethanol and starch production. According to NALTF, the mandatory flour blending policy, if enacted, would create a sustained industrial offtake for cassava farmers that currently sell almost entirely into fresh or processed food markets.
The Rice Development Council Bill
The third bill, the National Rice Development Council of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2026 (SB 541), addresses the most expensive gap in Nigeria's food trade balance. The country spends an estimated $2 billion annually on rice imports to supplement domestic production of 5.1 million tonnes against consumption of 7.4 million tonnes, a shortfall of 2.3 million tonnes, according to NALTF. The Council would coordinate research into flood-resistant and high-yield rice varieties, regulate production standards, and oversee the modernisation of milling technologies. Senator Mustapha described the bill as a strategic "prosperity engine" designed to elevate Nigerian rice farmers from subsistence levels to commercial competitiveness, according to the same NALTF report.
The Legislative Context
The three bills form part of a broader 10th National Assembly push to support the Tinubu administration's food security agenda. Separately, the Guardian reported in April 2026 that the National Council on Nutrition has adopted Nigeria's National Policy on Food and Nutrition 2026-2035, directing all 36 states and the FCT to establish functional state nutrition councils within three months. The policy now awaits ratification by the Federal Executive Council.
FoodPrices Nigeria will monitor whether these legislative actions translate into measurable changes at market level across the Lagos markets it tracks.