•‘Smuggling, flooding, others causes of food crisis’

•Customs intercepts 120 food-laden trucks at border

Nigeria needs at least 72,000 tractors for farmers to engage in mechanised farming and contribute massively to curbing the food crisis facing the populace, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Abubakar Kyari, has said.

Kyari, at a sectoral debate organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja yesterday, revealed that only about 5,000 tractors are currently in working condition at farmlands across the country.

He, however, said that the ministry has signed an agreement with a manufacturer for the supply of 2,000 tractors annually for the next five years.

The minister spoke just as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) and the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) announced the arrest of 141 trucks heading out of the country with loaded smuggled food items.

Making his presentation before the House plenary, the Agriculture minister said the rising food crisis in the country was due mainly to smuggling, flooding, COVID-19, insecurity and last year’s cash swap by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).

He, however, said that long, medium and short-term measures, including funding for wheat, rice and cassava production, have been initiated to address the challenge.

Kyari explained that while the Naira redesign/cash swap policy left smallholder farmers without cash for cultivation in 2022/2023, flooding destroyed farmlands across the country.

He said the good news is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently gave his ministry a marching order to release grains from the National Strategic Grain Reserve and to adopt other measures to address food insecurity.

The minister added that the government, in partnership with the World Food Programme, halted mass procurement of grains for stockpiling in order to stabilise food prices.

Also, NCS Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi told the House that President Tinubu directed that 120 trucks arrested by the Service be driven to nearby markets where their contents should be sold to locals at moderate prices.

He, however, did not say where the trucks were heading to and when they were seized.

Hhe Customs boss decried the attitude of border community residents who encourage the smuggling of grains.

Adeniyi advised against adopting quick-fix solutions to the nation’s food crisis, saying that long-term measures must be put in place.

The Customs boss, who said that border posts would soon be reopened, added that the NCS and the government were working on a policy for the export of food items through designated terminals.

He also announced that the ban on petrol stations operating within 20 kilometres to Nigeria’s borders was being reviewed.

House Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu said that efforts to address food crisis must focus on demand and supply.

Kalu said he had personally identified increasing per capita consumption, raising production yields, curbing food price inflation and reducing reliance on food imports as critical levers for improving food security.

He said: “It is evident that Nigeria’s per capita consumption falls behind that of other countries, indicating a clear need for increased diversification to stimulate consumption.

“Moreover, the lower yields attributable to input scarcity underscore the urgency of improving access to timely, high-quality, and affordable inputs such as fertilisers, modern irrigation methods, and mechanization.

“Food inflation, a persistent challenge, reached a staggering 35.41 percent in January. This places an immense burden on our working population, with 90 percent allocating around 60 percent of their income to meet their basic food needs, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“This harsh reality is further compounded by the alarming projections for 2024. The number of food-insecure individuals is expected to reach 26.5 million, with 9 million children at risk of acute malnutrition. Of these, 2.6 million children face the threat of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), requiring critical nutrition treatment.

“Agriculture, a crucial sector representing 23 percent of our GDP and employing 51 percent of the workforce, should be the bedrock of our food security. However, a harsh reality confronts us.

The past decade has seen an intensification of insecurity in the North East, coupled with rife fighting in the North Central and banditry in the North West. These conflicts have had a catastrophic impact on food production, particularly amongst our vast farming communities.

“According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 90 percent of food produced in Nigeria comes from rural farmers. The rife insecurity in these regions has steadily contributed to a shrinking cultivated arable land area and declining farm yields.

“This is not the future we envision for our nation. We must act decisively to address these challenges and ensure food security for all Nigerians. Let us now delve deeper into the specific issues and explore potential solutions.” (The Nation)

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