Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria and Brazil have moved beyond diplomatic engagements to implementing their bilateral agriculture and livestock partnership, with market access now secured for private sector trade between both countries.

Speaking on Monday during a high-level Nigeria–Brazil Agro-Trade Market Access Milestone meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Shettima said the partnership had reached a stage where businesses could begin trading under the agreement.

According to a State House press release, the Vice President said, “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. This is precisely how enduring partnerships evolve.”

Shettima, who co-chairs the Nigeria–Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism with Brazil’s Vice President, Geraldo Alckmin, said the achievements recorded under the Nigeria–Brazil Agro-Trade Initiative showed that diplomatic commitments had translated into measurable results.

He described the meeting as “another movement in a symphony that began” after President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil and said the partnership was now delivering practical outcomes.

“The true measure of global partnership is not in the agreements signed but in their implementation and the benefits accruing to citizens of both countries who are the beneficiaries,” he said.

The Vice President said the Joint Agriculture and Livestock Technical Working Group was now operational, with specialised sub-groups focusing on dairy and livestock genetics, soybean productivity, agricultural policy and agro-climatic risk zoning.

He recalled that President Tinubu and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had agreed that agricultural trade between both countries remained far below its potential and directed officials to identify opportunities to increase trade, investment and technical cooperation.

“I am pleased that we can today report the first tangible fruits of that presidential directive. The market access milestones we announce are the product of months of disciplined collaboration between our Ministries, our regulatory authorities, our technical experts and our private sector partners.

“They show what becomes possible when political leadership is matched by strong institutions and by the humility to do the unglamorous work of implementation,” Shettima said.

The Vice President also praised Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, André Carlos Alves de Paula Filho, for strengthening cooperation between both countries.

He said the minister’s visit “speaks to the strength of a friendship that has outlived the passing seasons of politics.”

“It affirms our shared determination to fashion a partnership that delivers practical benefit to the farmer in Jigawa, to the processor in Kwara, to the exporter in Lagos, and to the households in São Paulo and Brasília who will one day consume the fruits of our soil,” he added.

Shettima also thanked the Brazilian government for appointing an Agricultural Attaché to Abuja and expanding the engagement of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), saying the move had strengthened technical cooperation.

Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, André Carlos Alves de Paula Filho, said Brazil was committed to expanding access for Nigerian agricultural products, including hibiscus, sesame and shea butter.

“I am pleased to inform you that the technical staff of Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock is in the final stages of preparing the phytosanitary certificate proposal required to enable these exports.

“Once this work is completed, we will also facilitate contacts between Nigerian exporters and potential Brazilian buyers, creating concrete commercial opportunities for these products in the Brazilian market,” he said.

Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi welcomed the partnership and said the state contributes 75 per cent of Nigeria’s non-oil exports, pledging support for the initiative.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari said the agreement reached by Presidents Tinubu and Lula was already accelerating agricultural trade between Nigeria and Brazil and would help fast-track Nigerian agricultural exports. (Arise News)

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