By David Torough, Abuja

Following the continuous upsurge in prices of food commodities, the Federal Government is reconsidering the establishment of a National Commodity Board as a solution to the escalating food prices in the country.

Recall that there have been protests in some parts of the country in recent times as a result of skyrocketing prices of food items.

Vice President Kashim Shettima at a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems and resource mobilisation held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday said the government of President Bola Tinubu was concerned about the plight of Nigerians, stressing that efforts were underway to mitigating  the hardship.

The Vice President in  a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha said,  in tackling price volatility, the board would be given the mandate to assess and regulate food prices, as well as maintain a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items.

Shettima said the two-day event was an attestation of Nigeria’s efforts at mitigating the effects of climate change and ensuring food security for Nigerians.

Recalling that food security was one of the eight areas of priority declared by President Tinubu as part of his Renewed Hope Agenda, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency on food security, the Vice President highlighted ongoing policy reforms by the administration to ensure food and water availability, as well as affordability.

The Vice Present said, “Our solution to the potential food crisis has become immediate, medium, and long-term strategies. The short-term strategy entails revitalising the food supply through specific interventions like the distribution of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to counteract the effects of subsidy removal; fostering collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources for efficient farmland irrigation, ensuring year-round food production, and addressing price volatility by establishing a National Commodity Board.

“This board will continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items.”

He assured that while the Tinubu administration has fully invested in the restoration of degraded land, there were ongoing plans “to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within” the nation’s borders as its contribution to the AFR100 Initiative.

On how the government was handling the security challenges that have prevented farmers from working on their farms, he said, “I wish to assure you that we will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks.

“We won’t only make it safe for farmers to return to their farms, but we will also ensure the activation of land banks. There are currently 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that will be used to increase the availability of arable land for farming, which will immediately impact food output,” he added.

Shettima further said that the Tinubu administration was also collaborating “with mechanization companies to clear more forests and make them available for farming,” even as the Central Bank of Nigeria “will also continue to play a major role in funding the agricultural value chain.

“We will deploy concessionary capital to the sector, especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, among others. The concessionary funds will ensure food is always available and affordable, thereby having a direct impact on Nigeria’s Human Capital Index (HCI). This administration is focused on ensuring the HCI numbers, which currently rank as the 3rd lowest in the world, are improved for increased productivity.”

Shettima restated frantic efforts by the administration “to ensure a massive boost in employment and job creation”, noting that it “is another presidential area of priority.

 “The government will make agriculture attractive for our teeming youth population with a view to creating between 5 to 10 million more jobs for them within the agriculture value chain, working with the current 500,000 hectares of arable land and the several hundreds of thousands more farmlands to be developed in the medium term,” he pointed out.

The vice president said that the efforts were part of the federal government’s bid to actualize the “UN-Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals 2 of “Zero Hunger” and African Union Agenda 2063, which aims to transform Africa into a global powerhouse of the future.

 “But we can’t achieve this unless we guarantee food security by building the capacity of smallholder farmers who account for about 88% of the total food production in Nigeria.”

He implored those at the event, including development partners, private investors and diplomatic community, among others, to make sure the high-level engagement results in a positive outcome.

In his address, the African Union Chairman of Food System, Dr Ibrahim Maiyaki, said the challenges that will confront Africa in the next 20 to 30 years could be tackled through three parameters: the continent’s know-how, expertise and leadership.

Maiyaki called for strong regional integration through food transformation as well as boosting productivity and economic growth rates through the right policies and governance objectives.

Also, the National Coordinator of NEPAD, Gloria Akobundu, praised President Tinubu for his efforts towards making Nigeria a great nation.