• Nigeria and Brazil roll out the $8bn Green Imperative plan, including $2.5bn in livestock investment with JBS.
• The project calls for 10,000 tractors, 50,000 tools, and aims to create over 5 million jobs.
• Tinubu’s visit to Brasília seeks faster progress as 31 million Nigerians face food insecurity.

Seven years after the signing of an initial memorandum of understanding, Nigeria and Brazil officially launched the operational phase of the Green Imperative Project (GIP) in March 2025. This large-scale mechanization program, valued at $1.1 billion in its first phase, is designed to expand to $4.3 billion with a second stage already planned. Alongside it, a separate $2.5 billion agreement was signed with Brazilian multinational JBS in the livestock and animal protein sector. Altogether, bilateral agricultural cooperation between the two countries now amounts to nearly $8 billion.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to Brasília on August 25, 2025, is intended to give new momentum to this partnership. Beyond the political announcements, the Green Imperative Project is seen as a real-world test of the Nigerian president’s food strategy.

The project was first planned in 2018, but the commercial phase was only signed in Abuja in March 2025, in the presence of Vice President Kashim Shettima. “We have started seven years behind but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step,” he said, stressing that the GIP is part of the government’s agenda for food security.

According to Brazil’s ambassador to Nigeria, Carlos Garcete, the delay was due to negotiations to secure financing from regional development banks and private investors. Presented as one of the largest farm projects in Africa, the GIP plans the delivery of 10,000 tractors and 50,000 farm implements to be assembled in Nigeria using local labor. Authorities say the program will create 100,000 direct jobs and more than 5 million indirect jobs. Trained staff will also provide maintenance to reduce external dependence.

Tinubu’s trip to Brazil this week is part of a diplomatic effort to strengthen the partnership. In July, during a preparatory visit, he criticized “excessive bureaucracy” slowing down agricultural projects and pledged to remove the obstacles, while underlining the strategic importance of livestock in his food policy.

On August 25, both sides announced the signing of new agreements covering aviation, diplomatic cooperation, biotechnology research, energy, digital economy, and agricultural finance. From Brazil’s side, the GIP is presented as an example of South–South cooperation, while the Nigerian presidency highlights a determination to accelerate implementation after years of delays.

From Lagos to Sao Paolo… Abuja to Brasilia… Nigeria and Brazil share more than history. We share a future.

President Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil isn’t just about diplomacy, it’s about action:
? $1.1B Green Imperative bringing tractors and equipment to our farmers.
? New… pic.twitter.com/L7x7e5Nm91

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) August 23, 2025

This cooperation comes at a time when food security is a top priority for Abuja. According to the World Food Program and the FAO, Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest populations facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with nearly 31 million people affected.

With food costs still rising, the government had already introduced emergency measures in October 2024, including a 150-day duty-free import window for certain products, the distribution of inputs to 2,700 farmers, and the administration of nearly 15 million livestock vaccines. These interventions temporarily eased markets but did not resolve structural challenges such as low productivity and post-harvest losses of up to 40% due to weak infrastructure.

In May 2025, at the Taraba International Investment Summit, Tinubu declared that “Food sufficiency is the first currency of national stability,” and called for a shift from manual farming to mechanization. A month later, the government launched what it described as the largest mechanization campaign ever undertaken in the country, rolling out 2,000 tractors, 50 bulldozers, 12 mobile workshops, and more than 8,000 specialized machines. The initiative is intended to cultivate over 550,000 hectares, produce 2 million tons of food, create 16,000 jobs, and benefit 550,000 farming households, according to Agriculture and Food Security Minister Abubakar Kyari, as reported by local daily The Punch.

Ambitions and uncertainties

The Green Imperative Project is presented as a structural solution inspired by Brazil’s success in transforming its Cerrado into one of the world’s most productive agricultural hubs. But applying this model to Nigeria, where farming is dominated by small family plots, remains an open question. Authorities say smallholders will be included, but it is unclear whether they will have real access to machinery, credit, and markets, or if large farms will be the first beneficiaries.

Critics also highlight recurring weaknesses such as poor coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and research institutes, continued reliance on imported equipment, the marginalization of local governments which control land, difficulties in accessing credit and land, insecurity in rural areas that prevents many farmers from cultivating, and heavy post-harvest losses caused by insufficient transport and storage infrastructure.

By promising to remove administrative barriers and signing new agreements with Brazil, Tinubu seeks to show determination. But the Green Imperative Project will ultimately be judged on its implementation. More than a symbol of international cooperation, it is a decisive test for Nigeria’s food security strategy.