In a bid to address the rising food inflation in Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on food security and unveiled a series of immediate interventions aimed at ensuring food availability and affordability.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, special adviser to the president on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, outlined the details of the presidential intervention on food security, food pricing, and sustainability.
He said the president recognises the impact of soaring food prices on ordinary Nigerians, and has prioritised supporting the most vulnerable members of society to cope with the situation.
According to him, the president’s immediate response includes the proclamation of a state of emergency on food security and the inclusion of food and water availability and affordability within the purview of the National Security Council.
He said to combat the crisis, a range of initiatives will be implemented in the coming weeks, to address both short-term and long-term interventions.
He said, “As a hands-on leader who follows developments across the country everyday, Mr. President is not unmindful of the rising cost of food and how it affects the citizens.
“While availability is not a problem, affordability has been a major issue to many Nigerians in all parts of the country. This has led to a significant drop in demand, thereby undermining the viability of the entire agriculture and food value chain.”
It is in this wise, he said, President Tinubu took certain actions, including declared a state of emergency on food security; issues of food and water availability and affordability be included within the purview of the National Security Council; while a number of initiatives will be deployed in the coming weeks to reverse the inflationary trend and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable foods to ordinary Nigerians.
Alake added that as with most emergencies, there are immediate, medium- and long-term interventions and solutions.
In the immediate term, Alake said the government plans to allocate funds previously saved from fuel subsidy removal to revamp the agricultural sector, focusing on increasing productivity.
Immediate intervention strategies, he revealed, includes immediate release fertilisers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
Additionally, Alake said, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources will work together to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands, facilitating year-round food production and eliminating seasonal farming.
To stabilise food prices, he said a National Commodity Board will be established, consisting of various stakeholders from the agricultural sector.
According to him, this board will continuously assess food prices and maintain a strategic food reserve, acting as a price stabilising mechanism for critical grains and other food items.
The presidential spokesman also acknowledged that ensuring the safety of farmers and farmlands is a priority, and said the government will collaborate with the security architecture to protect farmers from attacks, to enable them to carry on with their work without fear.
He further stated that the Central Bank will continue to play a significant role in funding the agricultural value chain, while land banks will be activated to increase the availability of arable land for farming.
Stating that companies will be engaged to clear more forests and make them suitable for farming purposes, he said river basins will be utilized to enable crop planting during the dry season through irrigation schemes to ensure continuous farming production throughout the year which will address the issue of seasonal scarcity.
According to him, transportation and storage challenges will be addressed by exploring alternative means of transportation, such as rail and water transport, to reduce freight costs.
This is just as existing warehouses and storage facilities will be revamped to improve efficiency and minimize food waste.
Alaka further explained that the interventions put forth by President Tinubu’s administration aim not only to ensure food security but also to stimulate the export capacity of the agricultural sector, increasing revenue and creating employment opportunities.
“One of the major positive outcomes of these interventions will be a massive boost in employment and job creation,” he added.
According to him, with agriculture already accounting for about 35.21 percent of employment in Nigeria, the government aims to double this percentage in the long term, creating between 5 to 10 million more jobs within the agricultural value chain
