Nigeria’s ginger industry is facing a fresh blight threat in Kaduna State, just as the country is attempting to rebuild a value chain that suffered a major production and export collapse following the 2023 disease outbreak.
Farmers in several ginger-growing communities in Kaduna, Nigeria’s largest producing state, are reporting dark spots, yellowing leaves, wilting and rhizome rot. Farmers in Kagarko Local Government Area said the latest outbreak began appearing in early July, raising concerns ahead of the October-November harvest period.
The development comes after ginger production plunged from 751,473 tonnes in 2022 to an estimated 67,600 tonnes in 2023, following the first major blight outbreak. Production recovered to about 159,600 tonnes in 2024, but remained substantially below Nigeria’s historical output of more than 700,000 tonnes.
The disease has also devastated Nigeria’s export market. National Bureau of Statistics data show that ginger export earnings fell 76 percent from ₦26.2 billion (about $19.7 million) in 2023 to ₦6.28 billion (about $4.72 million) in 2024, before falling to zero in 2025. The collapse has been linked to reduced production, high domestic prices, and rising input costs that made Nigerian ginger uncompetitive internationally.
Domestic prices have remained a major challenge. Ginger prices reached about ₦15.2 million (about $11,420) per tonne, compared with an international price of around US$2,000 at the time. Exporters consequently found it difficult to sell Nigerian ginger profitably in international markets.
The crisis has hit farmers particularly hard. According to BusinessDay, one Kaduna farmer, Yusuf Usman, said he had yet to recover from a ₦12 million (about $9,021) loss suffered during the 2023 outbreak and had planted only a small area this year before the disease returned. Meanwhile, a 100kg bag of ginger seed was selling for about ₦560,000 (about $421), adding to the financial pressure on growers.
Nigeria’s ginger industry supports an estimated 500,000 smallholder farmers and was previously a significant source of foreign exchange. The industry is valued at about $713 million, based on FAO data.
The Federal Government is nevertheless pursuing a recovery strategy. In June, the National Agricultural Development Fund and the National Root Crops Research Institute launched the Ginger Value Chain Recovery and Sustainability Programme, with a focus on disease-free planting materials, germplasm conservation, tissue-culture propagation and development of a sustainable seed system.
This follows NADF’s ₦1.6 billion (about $1.20 million) Ginger Recovery, Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment programme launched in 2024 to support farmers affected by the blight epidemic. NADF says the intervention provided improved seeds, fertiliser and crop-protection products to 15,000 affected farmers across Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa and the FCT.
NBF Insight
Nigeria’s ginger challenge has moved beyond a crop disease crisis into an export competitiveness crisis.
The immediate priority is containing the renewed blight and ensuring farmers have access to reliable, disease-free planting materials. But restoring the industry will require a broader system involving disease surveillance, research, extension services, affordable inputs, processing, and stronger links between farmers and export markets.
The return of blight symptoms as Nigeria attempts to rebuild production highlights the vulnerability of agricultural export industries when disease control and value-chain resilience are not developed together.
For Nigeria, rebuilding ginger is therefore not simply about returning to the fields. It is about restoring farmer confidence, production capacity and the export market that once made Nigerian ginger a globally important commodity.
