In a remarkable show of African solidarity and shared vision for food security, Nigeria has gifted Ethiopia 2,000 cashew seedlings and 100,000 cashew seeds—a generous move capable of transforming 600 hectares of farmland.
The symbolic handover, which took place just before the 2025 United Nations Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, was received with gratitude by Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr. Efa Muleta Boru. It marks a fresh chapter in regional cooperation and speaks to a new kind of diplomacy—one that grows from the soil up.
Anchored in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agricultural transformation agenda, the initiative is more than a diplomatic gesture. It reflects Nigeria’s growing emphasis on using agriculture not only to feed its people but to foster regional peace, climate resilience, and strategic alliances across the continent.
This exchange is also a continuation of goodwill. Just a month earlier, Ethiopia had extended a hand of friendship by donating 2,000 Hass avocado seedlings and 2,000 coffee seedlings to Nigeria—an act that set the tone for mutual respect and shared agricultural innovation between the two nations.
As the summit kicks off, Nigeria’s delegation is being led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who touched down in Addis Ababa on Saturday afternoon. He was warmly received at Bole International Airport by Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Temesgen Tiruneh, alongside Nigerian embassy officials.
Wasting no time, the Vice President convened a closed-door strategy session with top aides and delegation members, including Ambassador Nasir Aminu and Marion Moon, the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture and Executive Secretary of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU). The meeting served to sharpen Nigeria’s position ahead of the summit’s key dialogues.
At the heart of Nigeria’s presence at the summit is a clear threefold vision: to claim leadership in Africa’s food systems reform, build strategic international partnerships that support national priorities, and promote a dynamic, private sector-led agricultural economy.
Over the coming days, Shettima is expected to take part in high-level discussions on reforming global trade and finance in agriculture, building resilience into food systems, and strengthening value chains—especially for coffee, one of Africa’s most iconic exports.
But it is the agricultural partnership with Ethiopia that stands out as a living example of these goals in action. Beyond the talking points and policy papers, Nigeria is demonstrating that the seeds of diplomacy can quite literally be planted—and that African countries can lead their own path toward a food-secure, climate-smart future.
