Addis Ababa, October 19, 2026 (FMC) — For Nigerian journalist Jonathan Nda-Isaiah, a return to Addis Ababa after a decade became more than a journey through a changing city. It became an encounter with a development experience that left him questioning why Nigeria, with its vast agricultural resources, continues to struggle with food imports and child malnutrition.
Writing in Nigeria’s Leadership newspaper after joining the high-level delegation led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Nda-Isaiah reflects on Ethiopia’s transformation through three closely connected realities: the changing urban landscape, the expansion of domestic wheat production and the effort to translate nutrition commitments into sustained public policy.
His account offers a revealing perspective on how Ethiopia’s experience is being received beyond its borders—not through official declarations alone, but through the observations of a visitor comparing what he witnessed with the challenges facing his own country.
The change he noticed in Addis Ababa was immediate. Returning after ten years, he describes a city whose roads, flyovers and urban order made him look twice, comparing parts of the Ethiopian capital favourably with some European cities he has visited. His observation is personal, but its significance extends beyond the impression of a visitor: Ethiopia’s capital is increasingly part of the story the country presents to the wider world about its ambitions and transformation.
Yet it was outside the capital, among the farms of Oromia Regional State, that the visit appears to have made its deepest impression.
There, Nda-Isaiah encountered extensive farmland, agricultural production and mechanisation. The experience brought into sharp focus a contrast that runs through his entire commentary: Ethiopia’s progress towards wheat self-sufficiency, despite significant challenges, and Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported wheat despite its considerable agricultural potential.
As he recounts Vice President Shettima’s remarks during the farm visit, food production emerges as a question of national sovereignty, economic resilience and the ability to protect citizens from the consequences of external price shocks.
The Nigerian journalist notes that Ethiopia has moved from importing about one billion dollars’ worth of wheat annually to producing enough for domestic consumption, with surplus supplies reaching neighbouring Djibouti and Kenya. For him, this achievement is not simply an agricultural milestone. It is a challenge to Nigeria to reconsider what can be accomplished when production, mechanisation and political commitment are sustained.
His account also places security at the centre of agricultural transformation. Reflecting on the journey through farming areas, he contrasts the relative sense of security he observed with the threats facing farmers in parts of Nigeria. His conclusion is direct: farmers cannot realise their potential where fear prevents them from cultivating or harvesting their land.
This observation highlights an essential connection between peace, productive land and food security. Agricultural potential becomes national wealth only when farmers can work, infrastructure can support production and public institutions can sustain the conditions for investment.
The nutrition leadership exchange provided another dimension to the visit. Nigeria’s delegation examined Ethiopia’s experience with the Seqota Declaration, while Nigerian leaders announced commitments intended to strengthen the country’s Nutrition 774 Initiative. These include efforts to establish a stronger legal foundation for nutrition financing, improve coordination across levels of government and extend interventions to communities throughout Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
Nda-Isaiah pays particular attention to the need for continuity. In his assessment, policies cannot transform lives if each administration abandons the work of its predecessor. He argues for legal backing, reliable financing, measurable targets and accountability—turning the commitments made during the Addis Ababa engagement into obligations that endure beyond a single political cycle.
His recommendations are directed at Nigerian institutions, but the underlying lesson is broader. Development requires more than announcing ambitious programmes. It depends on the capacity to implement them, finance them consistently and measure whether they are improving people’s lives.
The Nigerian journalist does not portray Ethiopia as a country without difficulties. He acknowledges its economic pressures and security challenges, making his central comparison more pointed: progress in wheat production, he argues, demonstrates what can be achieved even amid considerable obstacles.
That distinction matters. Ethiopia’s experience is not presented as a perfect model, nor does it suggest that another country can reproduce its trajectory without adaptation. Rather, it demonstrates the value of examining homegrown approaches, understanding the conditions behind their results and applying relevant lessons to different national circumstances.
For Ethiopia, the significance of such reflections lies in the growing attention its development experience is attracting among African partners. A high-level delegation led by Nigeria’s vice president came to examine nutrition and agricultural approaches, while Nda-Isaiah’s commentary carries those observations into Nigeria’s public debate. His account also places the exchange within a wider discussion of food sovereignty, institutional continuity and the responsibilities of political leadership.
The relationship between the two countries therefore reaches beyond diplomatic ceremony. It creates space for practical cooperation between major African nations whose choices affect food systems, public health and the continent’s broader development ambitions.
Nda-Isaiah ends with a question about whether the Nigerian delegation will be remembered as a turning point or as another overseas visit accompanied by photographs and declarations. That question captures the real test of the engagement: whether the lessons observed in Ethiopia will lead to sustained action in Nigeria.
For Ethiopia, it also underscores the value of development experience that can be examined, discussed and adapted by others. The influence of a country’s achievements is measured not only by what changes within its borders, but also by the conversations and decisions those achievements inspire elsewhere.
In Nda-Isaiah’s account, Addis Ababa was more than a destination, and Ethiopia’s wheat farms were more than a field visit. Together, they offered a view of development grounded in production, public commitment and the pursuit of greater self-reliance.
His reflections carry a wider message for Africa: the continent’s development challenges are immense, but its countries do not have to confront them in isolation. When African nations examine one another’s experience and turn useful lessons into practical action, cooperation becomes more than diplomacy—it becomes an instrument of change.