The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security (FMA&FS), Abubakar Kyari, has attributed the smuggling of food from Nigeria to other countries as the major driver of hunger and food scarcity.
He also named other causes which include naira redesign and natural disasters. Kyari noted that the food shortage currently experienced in the country is due to the Naira redesign policy of erstwhile Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and insecurity in farm spaces.
Kyari’s assertion was made while briefing the House of Representatives members at the third sectoral debate on food security on Tuesday.
Kyari said, Small-scale farmers had no access to cash because of the naira redesign policy and currency swap especially to pay for their harvest towards the end of 2022 as well as pay for cultivation during the commencement of the wet season.
“As a result of the non-availability of cash, preparation for the 2023 farming season was not enough to produce the much-needed food to feed Nigerians.”
He fingered yet another factor. According to him, the ripple effect of COVID-19 on food production across the globe is still prevailing. Subsequently, he decried the 2021 and 2022 flooding, which resulted in the loss of crops on farmland. He, however, said that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has risen up to the challenge to tackle food crisis in the country.
Speaking on initiatives deployed to arrest the situation, Kyari noted that about 5000 tractors are working in Nigeria. That also is another major challenge. Because, as he said, the country should have 72,000 functional tractors to meet the growing needs of Nigerians.
He then said that the FMA&FS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a manufacturer to supply 2000 tractors annually for the next five years.
Kyari also disclosed that through the Federal Government intervention and Budgetary Allocation, the ministry has been able to carry out dry farming and will be harvesting 55 thousand hectares of wheat in the first phase.
