Nigeria Loses Over $360m Annually to EU Dried Beans Ban
- Stakeholders have said that Nigeria loses up to $363 million yearly due to the EU ban on its dried beans exports
- The ban reportedly stems from high levels of the banned pesticide DDVP found in Nigerian beans, which can cause major health risks to farmers
- The stakeholders called for increased public investment, budget reforms, and preservation of indigenous seeds to strengthen the agricultural sector
Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng, covering energy, the money market, tech and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
Nigeria is losing an estimated $362.5 million to $363 million every year in foreign exchange earnings due to the prolonged international ban on its dried beans exports, mainly by the European Union (EU).
This was disclosed in a communiqué issued at the National Summit on Agroecology and Public-Private Partnerships on Agroecology held in Lagos, The Nation reported.
The EU ban, first introduced in 2015 and repeatedly extended, was prompted by the detection of extremely high levels of the pesticide Dichlorvos (DDVP) in Nigerian beans, far above the acceptable Maximum Residue Limit (MRL). DDVP, which many local farmers and traders use to preserve beans against pests, has been banned in the EU since 2006 because of its harmful effects on human health.
Source: Getty Images
Speaking to journalists after the summit, stakeholders, including Muhammad Rili, General Manager of the Kaduna Agricultural Development Agency (KADA), warned that the continued use of hazardous pesticides, many of which are prohibited in developed countries, exposes farmers and consumers to serious health risks.
According to the summit, developing countries bear a disproportionate burden of pesticide-related harm. Although nations like Nigeria use only 25 per cent of the chemical pesticides produced worldwide, farmers in third-world countries experience 99 per cent of pesticide deaths due to poisoning.
Citing data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the communiqué noted that 385 million farmers worldwide suffered acute pesticide poisoning in 2019, with the majority of cases recorded in Africa and Asia.
A 2022 survey of smallholder women farmers also highlighted widespread health concerns, with 75% reporting symptoms linked to exposure to highly hazardous pesticides. Common complaints included breathing difficulties, dizziness, headaches, vomiting, eye irritation, skin reactions, catarrh, diarrhoea, and respiratory challenges.
The summit further critiqued the 2025 budget allocations for agroecology, biodiversity, and climate resilience, observing that major budget lines were placed under the Presidency and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Stakeholders argued that such allocations should be housed under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Federal Ministry of Environment to enable proper coordination and effective implementation.
Although funding allocations for agroecology in states and key ministries have increased between 2020 and 2024, the summit noted that the scale of activities carried out has not matched the financial commitments.
To address the challenges, participants urged federal and state governments, and their respective legislatures, to increase yearly budgets for agroecology and extension services, while ensuring timely approval and full release of funds. They said such actions are crucial to boosting food production, reducing hunger and poverty, and improving food and nutrition security.
Call for protection of indigenous seeds
The summit also called for urgent steps to preserve and promote Nigeria’s indigenous seeds, seedlings, and livestock, recommending the establishment and strengthening of Community Seed Banks across all states. These banks, they said, should safeguard local seeds, regenerate them, and make them accessible while supporting breeding programmes that enhance resilience to climate stress and preserve agricultural biodiversity.
They further urged governments at all levels to expand public investments in agriculture to help raise agricultural GDP to at least 6%. Legit.ng reported that the agriculture sector grew by 3.79% in the third quarter of 2025.
The summit identified such priority areas as extension services, access to credit, youth and women in agriculture, labour-saving technologies, agricultural inputs, post-harvest loss reduction, climate-resilient farming, irrigation, research and development, monitoring, and coordination.
Source: Getty Images
Nigerian export certificates now recognised in 140 countries
Legit.ng recently reported that the Nigeria National Accreditation System (NINAS) has received international recognition, which will enable Nigerian export test results and quality certificates to be accepted in more than 140 countries.
For years, Nigerian exporters, especially those in the food and manufacturing sectors, sent product samples to Europe for conformity assessments, a process that drained scarce foreign exchange and slowed the export cycle.
However, the recognition of Nigeria’s local certificates will help the country save millions of dollars in foreign exchange by ending the expensive practice of exporters sending samples to Europe for conformity assessments.
Source: Legit.ng
