.as experts say food distribution unsustainable
Experts in the agricultural value chain have challenged President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to address Nigeria’s worsening insecurity if Africa’s most populous nation is to overcome its current food shortage and rising prices of commodities.
The experts, who spoke to BusinessDay, also noted that the planned distribution of 42,000 tonnes of assorted grains to vulnerable Nigeria by the government was unsustainable.
The Federal Government recently announced plans to release 42,000 tonnes of assorted grains from the country’s strategic reserves.
Speaking to BusinessDay, Yunusa Yabwa, the national secretary of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria queried the sustainability of the programme, stressing the need for the government to address the various challenges affecting food production as well as the overall agricultural system.
According to Yabwa, many farmers have abandoned their farmlands due to insecurity. This, he said, has impacted the amount of food available for sales and consumption. “How long are we going to keep sharing foods like this, how much do we even have in the reserves? But our advice is that the government should focus on addressing issues affecting our ability to produce food. Issues such as insecurity; farmers everywhere in the country are scared to go to their farms and this is a big problem that must be addressed.
Speaking on the modalities for the distribution of the grains, Yabwa said the programme must be administered fairly, void of political influence. “The government should collaborate with the leaders at the grassroots, as well as devise means of identifying the ‘real’ vulnerable Nigerians. If the government uses this method, it will succeed but they must avoid distributing these grains through politicians, it will not yield any result.”
Also speaking to BusinessDay, Uchenna Daniel, of Green Grain Nigeria Company, said free distribution of grain would only suffice for a short period, adding that Nigeria may soon plunge into a severe food crisis.
Citing the 2023 Cadre Harmonise (CH) report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation in March 2023, Daniel said, “it is disheartening to see the spread of hunger across the country as it was projected by the FAO. The report said that over 20 million Nigerians would be faced with acute food.
The report stated that over 24 million Nigerians in 26 states and the federal capital territory (FCT), including 18,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) were expected to face acute food crises between June and August 2023.
It also stated that the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) geared towards the redesign of the currency notes and withdrawal of the old notes from circulation created a serious bottleneck to households’ ability to access cash as well as food commodities.
“Insecurity, especially insurgency in the North-East states, particularly Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states persists; armed banditry and kidnapping for money ransom in some North-West states such as Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna as well as North- Central states of Benue and Niger which have also lingered.
“Prolonged scarcity of petroleum motor spirit, commonly called petrol, and the associated hike in pump price across the states led to an astronomical rise in transport fares and cost of food products in Nigerian markets.
Daniel, however, said that ensuring food security in Nigeria would require a deliberate effort because many factors have affected the agriculture sector, especially food production in recent years.
BusinessDay’s findings showed that the modalities for the distribution were still not clear, as a source from the Ministry of Agriculture said, “We have not decided on that yet, we are still bagging the grains that we have for now. And I cannot tell you how long it will take or when the distribution will commence.”
