Nigeria, Brazil begin implementation of agro-trade pact, says Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Monday said Nigeria and Brazil have moved from negotiations to the implementation phase of their bilateral agro-trade and agriculture partnership, paving the way for private sector operators in both countries to begin trading under the agreement.

Shettima disclosed this during a high-level Nigeria–Brazil Agro-Trade Market Access Milestone meeting with a Brazilian delegation led by the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, André Carlos Alves de Paula Filho, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Vice President, who co-chairs the Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism alongside Brazil’s Vice President, Geraldo Alckmin, said the initiative had progressed from signed agreements to practical outcomes through months of collaboration between government agencies, regulators, technical experts and private sector stakeholders.

“We have moved with deliberate steps from dialogue to delivery, from agreements to implementation, and from shared ambition to outcomes that can be counted, weighed and shipped,” Shettima said.

He said the operational rollout of the Nigeria-Brazil Agriculture and Livestock Cooperation Framework had begun, with a Joint Agriculture and Livestock Technical Working Group already established.

According to him, thematic sub-groups are now working on dairy and livestock genetics, soybean productivity, agricultural policy, and agro-climatic risk zoning.

Shettima recalled that Presidents Bola Tinubu and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had, during Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil, agreed that agricultural trade between both countries remained below its potential and directed their governments to accelerate trade, investment and technical cooperation.

He said the latest milestones were the first concrete outcomes of that directive.