Professional Assessment of the Nigerian National Fertiliser Quality Control System

Nigeria loses billions of naira annually to substandard and adulterated fertilisers that reduce crop productivity, damage soil health, and diminish farmer trust in input markets, and a professional assessment of the existing fertiliser quality control system is necessary to identify systemic weaknesses requiring regulatory reform. This study professionally assessed Nigeria's fertiliser quality control system, examining the legal framework, institutional roles, laboratory testing capacity, and enforcement effectiveness of the National Agricultural Seeds Council, NASC, FMARD, and state ADPs. A professional assessment methodology was employed, drawing on documentary review of the Fertilizer Act and relevant regulations, structured interviews with 15 quality control officials and 10 agro-input market specialists, and analysis of fertiliser sampling data from NASC's quality testing records from 2020 to 2023. Assessment showed that only 34.7 percent of fertiliser samples in the review period were collected from retail level, leaving manufacturer and importer quality compliance largely unverified. Laboratory analysis capacity was sufficient for NPK testing but absent for micronutrient verification in all state agriculture ministry laboratories assessed. Enforcement action rates following quality failure detection were below 20 percent. Farmer recourse mechanisms for purchasing substandard fertiliser were non-functional in all assessed states. The study concludes that the quality control system is inadequate for the scale and complexity of Nigeria's fertiliser market. Recommendations include mandatory post-release market surveillance, micronutrient testing laboratory upgrade, and trader registration linked to quality compliance records.

Keywords: fertiliser quality control, Nigeria, regulatory assessment, food security, NASC