Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President of Nigeria has declared a state of emergency on food security.
Tinubu also approved that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after consultations with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that the President has directed an immediate release of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
According to him, “We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
“There will be an organic synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the use of water resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is available all years round.
“As a country, Mr. President has made it clear that we are no longer comfortable with seasonal farming. We can no longer afford to have farming downtime.”
The Presidential spokesman further explained that the Federal Government will partner with states to create ranches in those that are willing to avail lands.
He said the ranches will have sections dedicated as grazing reserves.
According to him, “We will establish ranches in collaboration with state government and the federal government will pay for the land.”
Alake explained that the government at the centre will activate land banks nationwide, which currently stand at 500,000 hectares mapped “to increase the availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.”
This is as the Central Bank has advised middlemen withholding grains to release supplies at their disposal as prices are likely to fall when the government begins to distribute grains.
Alake was accompanied to the press briefing by the Special to the President on Revenue, Zacch Adedeji, Special Adviser on Industry, Trade and Investment, John Uwajimogu and the acting Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Wale Adeniyi among others.
He explained that the briefing was to update the public on President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s immediate response to the current food inflation in the country.
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 a significant drop in demand thereby undermining the viability of the entire agriculture and food value chain.
“Accordingly, in line with this administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported, Mr. President has declared, with immediate effect the following actions:
“That a state of emergency on food security be announced immediately, and that all matters pertaining to food & water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
“As a direct and immediate response to this crisis, a number of initiatives will be deployed in the coming weeks to reverse this inflationary trend and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable foods to ordinary Nigerians.
“As with most emergencies, there are immediate, medium- and long-term interventions and solutions.
“In the immediate term, we intend to deploy some savings from the fuel subsidy removal into the Agricultural sector focusing on revamping the agricultural sector.
“In an earlier meeting with Agriculture Stakeholders (today), we drafted a memorandum of partnership between the government and the individual stakeholder representatives that encompasses the decisions taken and actions proposed from our engagements.
“The immediate intervention strategies are as follows: We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all-year round.
“We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabile station mechanism for critical grains and other food items.
“Through this board, government will moderate spikes and dips in food prices. To achieve this, we have the following stakeholders on board to support the intervention effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu:
“The National Commodity Exchange (NCX), Seed Companies, National Seed Council and Research institutes, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Food Processing/ Agric Processing associations, private sector holders & Prime Anchors, small holder farmers, crop associations and Fertilizer producers, blenders and suppliers associations to mention a few.
“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.
“The Central Bank will continue to play a major role of funding the agricultural value chain.
“Activation of land banks. There is currently 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that will be used to increase availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.
“Mechanization and land clearing- The government will also collaborate with mechanization companies to clear more forests & make them available for farming.
“River basins- there are currently 11 rivers basins that will ensure planting of crops during the dry season with irrigation schemes that will guarantee continuous farming production all year round, to stem the seasonal glut and scarcity that we usually experience.
“We will deploy concessionary capital/funding to the sector especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, etc.”
