By Miriam Humbe
China, Nigeria’s second-largest trading partner in Africa, on June 2, 2026, released a five-year plan for its national supply and marketing cooperative system, aiming to strengthen agricultural services and ensure food security for the 2026-2030 period.
China is also the largest engineering contracting market on the African continent, sharing a comprehensive strategic partnership centered on trade, infrastructure, and investment.
The agricultural plan outlines 18 key tasks focused on ensuring food security and advancing rural revitalization, according to the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.
By 2030, the system will build or renovate more than 100 national-level strategic fertilizer depots and about 1,000 county-level distribution centers in major grain-producing counties.
For this year, the system aims to build or renovate about 20 national-level strategic fertilizer depots and more than 200 county-level distribution centers, creating a smooth and efficient agricultural input distribution network to safeguard national food security, according to the federation.
The federation said the system will build or renovate 200 agricultural service centers this year, accelerating the development of emergency services such as grain drying and storage to reduce post-harvest losses.
The supply and marketing cooperatives are organizations that serve agriculture, rural areas and farmers under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
They are an important vehicle for the Party and the government to carry out work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and a key force in advancing China’s agricultural and rural development.
With a vast grassroots network across the country, the cooperative system serves as a critical link between urban and rural markets. It connects farmers with consumers, facilitates the distribution of agricultural products and supplies rural areas with essential production materials and daily necessities.
Nigeria can key into China’s agricultural modernization and five-year development plans by aligning national food security goals with Chinese funding, technology transfer, and bilateral trade frameworks.
Key strategies involve leveraging the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership to secure infrastructure financing, scaling up high-yield farming techniques, and expanding zero-tariff goods exports.
Funding and Investment Alignment:
Targeted Financing: Nigeria can pursue a major share of China’s $51 billion African development funding pledge, aiming for at least $10 billion directed toward priority agricultural and agro-industrial zones.
Special Agro-Processing Zones:
Nigeria can partner with Chinese investors to build localized processing hubs—such as the proposed 500-hectare zone near airport logistics on the Plateau—to cut post-harvest losses and add value locally.
Large-Scale Production Deals:
The nation can also integrate targeted foreign investments like poultry modernization agreements to scale up protein production and lower market prices.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency
