Nigeria, others need support to curb food insecurity – IMF

Nigeria and other African countries need huge support from the international community in order to curb food insecurity, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of IMF Africa Department, said this at the IMF advisory conference held virtually, with the theme ‘How African Countries Can Navigate the Turbulent Global Economy’.

“Leaning forward and addressing food security is important and there is a big role for the international community to play here,” he said.

He suggested putting in place subsidies for a period of time until food prices decline.

“The ideal way to approach this is to make sure food insecurity is abolished as much as possible, and this could require subsidies for the period of time when food prices are elevated,” Selassie said.

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According to him, it is important that such intervention is time-limited by promoting agricultural production and ensuring that people have other sources of income to be able to secure food.

He said in a bid to resolve food inflation, which implies plenty of money chasing fewer/same food items, countries tend to focus on financial intervention rather than trying to supply food from countries with surplus food items.

“The supply side needs more attention than ever”, Selassie said. “One of the big challenges in our region is that when we see a surge in agriculture prices, a lot of attention is given but when the pressure wanes, the focus is shifted from the really important area; so focusing on the supply side is really important,” he added.