Agriculture
FG Set to Tackle Nigeria’s Food Deficit Says Minister
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Worried about the huge food deficit due to the neglect of agricultural production, the Federal Government has commenced an integrated approach to solving the challenges of the food eco systems in the country.
Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba who stated this in Abuja on Tuesday, said food security is indispensable prerequisite for the survival of mankind.
He spoke while addressing a meeting of the Donors/Development Partners on the Implementation of the Food Systems Transformation Pathways in Nigeria.
The Minister lamented that the incidence of food insecurity has been on a steady increase over the past four decades, adding that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has projected that about 25.
3 million people in Nigeria would face acute food insecurity during the June to August 2023 lean season.He disclosed that, a quarterly report released by the global organisation shows that the figure projected is higher than the 19.45 million forecasts in 2022, which is attributed to the huge food deficit due to the neglect of agricultural production as well as other areas of food eco system for many decades.
Agba said, “since the initiative on food systems transformation started, the Government has garnered a lot of support from donors and development partners. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you all for your generous support to the country in your different fields.
“We recognized your collaboration with the Government of Nigeria (GoN) on series of exploratory dialogues that took place in the 36 States and the FCT and some communities in 2021 and to the consolidation of the reports, collation of the 78 recommended priorities from the dialogues, prioritization of recommendations, and the commencement of implementation in 2022.
“I also acknowledge your membership of the 2023 Implementation Task Team that is currently working on the development of costed Implementation Strategy for transforming the food systems. Your support, both technical and financial, are very well appreciated.
“The Government is aware that donors have specific states and areas of intervention in all the States in the country as shown by the mapping exercise done by the Implementation Task Team. Our evaluation of the Report of the mapping exercise points to the fact that there is an urgent need for better coordination of our efforts as stakeholders to ensure a balance support by all donors and development partners to enable Nigeria achieve the Transformation pathways.
The Minister added that the Federal Government understood that achieving universal access to safe, nutritious, affordable and sustainable diets is critical to addressing the complexities of malnutrition and food insecurity in Nigeria.
According to him, this is particularly critical to attaining both economic and human capital development and thus requires breaking down silos among different actors in the food and nutrition sphere while adopting a well-coordinated multi-sectoral approach.
The Minister who noted that both the technical and financial support for the implementation of food systems pathway has become a great challenge to the government said the needed funds for this will require the pooling of public and private sector resources, including development partners and donors.
According to him, the prese administration in its determination to ensure that there is an improvement in the food and nutrition situation in the country has adopted a strategic approach towards ensuring that successive governments in Nigeria continue to prioritize food and nutrition interventions in the nation’s development agenda.
“Consequently, the Ministry has been championing the implementation of the presidential directive on the establishment of nutrition departments and the creation of budget line for nutrition in all line Ministries, Departments and Agencies” he added.
Agba said the government appreciates the commitment of every organization represented at the meeting towards implementing the strategy being developed for the implementation of the food systems transformation pathways in the country.
He stated, “the enormous amount of money needed to assure the food security of Nigerians calls for a fundamental review of past approaches and achievements to see what lessons can be learned to re-strategize and develop an approach that will ensure that better progress is made toward achieving better results. We therefore desire your continuous support especially in funding the implementation of the food systems”.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The National Council on Privatisation (NCP) has given its nod to the recommendations aimed at repositioning the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to ensure food security for Nigerians.
Chaired by the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, the NCP approved the recommendations from the committee on BOA during its second meeting of 2024 held on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
In his address at the meeting, the Vice President emphasized the importance of optimizing BOA as part of the administration’s agenda to provide food security for the nation.
He urged the committee to engage professionals with integrity to manage the process effectively.Presenting the committee’s report, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, who is also the Vice-chairman of the NCP, highlighted the decision to reposition BOA for efficiency and effectiveness. He expressed confidence that the recommendations would guide the Council in revitalizing the Bank of Agriculture and positioning it globally.
One of the Key recommendations includes upgrading the Bank’s ICT infrastructure to automate processes and ensure accountability.
Recall that in 2023, an 8-member inter-ministerial team was set up by the NCP to review the state of affairs at BOA, given its critical role in agriculture and the administration’s commitment to food security.
Additionally, in 2016, the NCP approved collaboration between the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, along with the Federal Ministry of Finance, to restructure and recapitalize BOA.
According to a statement by BPE Head of Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman on Friday, the BOA, formerly known as Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank, waa established in 1992.
It is owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) holding 60% and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) holding 40%. The Bank is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS).
Wife of the Anambra State Governor, Dr Nonye Soludo, on Saturday launched the organic garden competition in secondary schools in Anambra to encourage children to learn more about food and farming.
Soludo, while addressing Healthy Living Teacher Ambassadors in Awka, said the organic garden competition would help teach children the importance of food and farming and its impact on their lives.
She described organic farming as a process that involved the use of natural food sources and nutrients for farming practices without fertiliser or other chemicals.
“This competition is part of the Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo Campaign to achieve a culture of health consciousness, drive organic agriculture with emphasis on food safety and sustainable living.
“It will help our students learn valuable lessons about where their food comes from, the benefits of eating fresh and healthy foods, and how to care for the environment.
“Vegetable seeds will be distributed to schools and at the end of every term, schools with the three best gardens will be rewarded.
“Our children at a tender age will start to appreciate agriculture as an essential way of life and the need to be part of building solutions that foster healthy foods in the society,” she said.
Also speaking, Dr Afam Obidike, the state’s Commissioner for Health, said the schools garden competition would increase student’s knowledge about the nutritional value of foods.
In her remarks, Prof. Nkechi Ikediugwu, Chairperson, Post Primary Schools Service Commission, said schools in the state would offer Health Living lecture every Wednesday after break to help students learn how to be healthy and grow into healthy adults.
Reports says that the programme featured distribution of okro, carrot, pepper, tomatoes, watermelon and cucumber seeds to the school teachers to begin the process of their school gardens.(NAN)
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has received 2.15 million bags of assorted fertilisers from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Reports says that the assorted fertilisers would be distributed to farmers to curb food inflation in the country as well as boost food production and food security.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, who spoke at the event on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed gratitude to the President Bola Tinubu and CBN for the gesture.
Kyari assured the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, that the inputs would be judiciously used and delivered to the intended farmers.
“Thank you very much; this is more than goodies; 2.
15 million bags of assorted fertilisers; we want to express our profound appreciation on behalf of the Nigerian farmers and President Tinubu.“Also, we appreciate you, our dear brother, the CBN governor and your team for giving us this wonderful gift.
“I want to assure you that it will be judiciously used and it will be delivered to the last man and intended farmers where they can reap the benefits of this huge gesture.
“They (farmers) can in turn cultivate and produce more that would stem the galloping food inflation that is affecting our country.’’
He said that challenges such as food prices, food cultivation, flooding and climate change among others had impacted on agricultural production in the country, adding that insecurity was on decline.
“l am happy to say that those things I mentioned are on the decline; insecurity is on the decline and we are mitigating against climate change.
“We are sensitising farmers to go into dry season agriculture.’’
Kyari said that there was need to need to boost and repair irrigation infrastructure so as to have all year round farming.
“Which (irrigation) is even more secured than that of the wet season farming,” he said.
Earlier, Cardoso expressed enthusiasm for the visit and presentation which was to address the issue of escalating cost of food in the country.
According to him, food prices are crucial components of inflation.
He said that the CBN aimed to enhance its partnership with the ministry to improve food production.
“This is precisely why we convene today to strengthen our collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to mitigate the surge in food prices.
“The gesture is in alignment with our strategic shift towards focusing on our fundamental mandate.
“The CBN has veered away from direct quasi-fiscal interventions and transitioned towards leveraging conventional monetary policy tools for executing monetary policies effectively.
“In this light, we aim to extend our support and foster closer ties with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) with the mandate and expertise to undertake these critical initiatives.
“Consequently, we aim to enhance our partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, bolstering your endeavours to enhance food productivity and security, ultimately curbing food inflation and fortifying our pursuit of price stability.
“In pursuit of these shared goals, we are delighted to announce the allocation of 2.15 million bags of fertilisers valued at over N100 billion which we humbly hand over to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
“This contribution from CBN aims to amplify food production capabilities and foster price stabilisation within the agricultural sector,” he said.(NAN)
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