By Mathew Dadiya, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the level of preparedness of nations to shocks of food security, boasting that his administration’s wisdom in promoting self-sufficiency, over the years, helped significantly in averting an eminent food crisis.
But the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari postulated a diverse view lamenting that they hike in food prices has the ability to evolve to national food crisis if urgent action was not taken to curtail the situation.
The President said this at the National Food Security Council meeting held at the State House, Abuja.
President Buhari noted that there was need for more effort to increase food production and self-sufficiency, assuring that the Federal Government would continue to promote policies that favour investments in the agricultural sector.
“The coronavirus pandemic has illustrated more than any event in recent history how countries must strive harder to protect food systems. It has also exposed the limits of dependency on other countries.
“In the last five years we have recorded notable achievements. Despite the decline in GDP by 6.1 per cent in Q2 of 2020 as a direct result of coronavirus, the agricultural sector continued to grow because of government targeted policies.’’
President Buhari, who commended Nigerian farmers for contributing to the stability in food security, said the favourable rainy seasons should serve as encouragement for many to take up farming as a vocation.
“I am pleased to note that most Nigerians are taking advantage of the opportunities in the agriculture and agric-business sector. I want to assure you that this government will continue to support these initiatives and many more to come’’, he said.
Also yesterday, Buhari rolled out the Economic Sustainability Plan and sets goal for National Food Security by ordering the Central Bank of Nigeria ”not to issue a kobo” of the country’s reserves for the importation of food items and fertilizer.
At a meeting of the National Food Security Council at the State House, Abuja, President Buhari restated his earlier verbal directive to the apex bank, saying he will pass it down in writing that ”nobody importing food should be given money.”
The President emphasized the need to boost local agriculture, saying: ”From only three operating in the country, we have 33 fertilizer blending plants now working. We will not pay a kobo of our foreign reserves to import fertilizer. We will empower local producers.”
Buhari also directed that blenders of fertilizer should convey products directly to State governments so as to skip the cartel of transporters undermining the efforts to successfully deliver the products to users at reasonable costs.
The President advised private businesses bent on food importation to source their foreign exchange independently, saying ”use your money to compete with our farmers”, instead of using foreign reserves to bring in compromised food items to divest the efforts of our farmers.
”We have a lot of able-bodied young people willing to work and agriculture is the answer. We have a lot to do to support our farmers,” President Buhari said.
The meeting, chaired by the President with other key members of the Council in attendance, was briefed on the food security situation prevailing in the country.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the council and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and a Governor from each of the six geo-political zones – Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba, Ebonyi, Lagos and Kebbi, made presentations.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, outlined measures introduced by the administration to tackle the unprecedented challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation as contained in the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).
Among others, the Minister highlighted that the government will facilitate the cultivation of 20,000 to 100,000 hectares of new farmland in every State and support off-take of agro-processing to create millions of direct and indirect job opportunities.
She also listed the creation of 774,000 direct jobs for a minimum of 1,000 young Nigerians in each local government, the construction of 300,000 homes every year to give a boost to jobs through the construction industry, as well as the connection of 25 million new users of electricity with the installation of Solar Home System (SHS) targeting 5 million households.
Ahmed also briefed on the joint investment with the World Bank to provide intervention fund to States to improve health infrastructure.
She said to ease existing financial hardships among the people, the government is also coming up with low-interest loans for mechanics, tailors, artisans, petty traders and other informal business operators.
The Minister added that the Federal Government will equally provide support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to help them keep their employees and boost local manufacturing.
Dr Ahmed explained that from the recently approved N2.3 trillion stimulus recommended by the NESP, there will be expansion of broadband connectivity to boost job opportunities in the digital economy, a planned expansion of the National Social Investment Programmes including increase in the number of beneficiaries such as the cash transfer beneficiaries, N-Power Volunteers, the Market Moni and Trader Moni schemes.
In his presentation, the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono told the Council that the nation expects a bumper harvest of food items despite floods in the north and drought in the south.
He quoted the latest market surveys to show that the recent hike in the price of commodities is being reversed.
On his part, Mr Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, reported the negative impact of the pandemic on the lives and livelihood of citizens, while the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (Rtd) expressed the hope of an early reopening of the partially closed borders given the progress made with neighbouring States in joint border patrols – one of the key conditions by Nigeria for reopening of the borders.
Earlier in his remarks, Gambari had said that the recent surge in food prices was gradually evolving to a food crisis with the ability to threaten the nation’s food security.
He disclosed this when the secretariat of National Food Security Council, met with all agricultural commodity association, to ascertain the causes of the recent hike in food prices and craft mitigating strategies to what could be a potential crisis.
“Although various concerns were raised of the root cause of increase in commodity cost, we have been informed that prices are actually on the decline as new grains have been introduced to the market.
“For example, new maize which was previously sold for N25,000 per bag is now being sold between N12,000 and N17,000 and it’s expected to fall between N7,000 and N8,000 per bag by November 2020, according to the various leaders of agricultural commodity association. The price decline has also been experienced in millet, beans and sorghum”.
He urged participant at the retreat to work hand-in-hand to ensure the protection of the nation’s food basket.
”Agriculture is a major priority for this administration and the crucial driver for the development of the nation.
Therefore, the growth of the sector leaves no room for complacency and there is still a long arduous road to go before achieving those goals. However with determination, coordination and hard work, we have the capacity and will therefore demonstrate the wherewithal to our exceed our expectation,” he added.
