Arc Ibrahim Kabir, The National President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, has said that to combat high food prices and hunger in the land, the Federal Government need to establish veritable food banks across the geopolitical zones in the country. In a statement personally signed by the President, he said, Beyond one-off releases from the strategic reserves Nigeria actually needs veritable food banks in all the six geopolitical zones for the attainment of sustainable food security.
A veritable food system is evolved by committing to the proper and sustainable creation of a number of important pillars including Production, Storage, Processing, Distribution and Consumption.”
Kabir said the government should also ensure that Production; The efficient productivity of farmers (gets) an optimum push by ensuring security to enable them go to their farms seamlessly and assisted to deploy Science, Technology and Innovation, STI, which will ensure compliance to Good Agricultural Practices, GAP, optimize mechanisation, exposure to relevant education and efficient agribusiness by creating incubation centers as well as Agriculture Intelligence Centers, AICs, all over the length and breadth of Nigeria.”
He said that when all gthese have been accomplished and the farmer under a peaceful atmosphere was able to harvest his products, the government should give support in processing “to bolster sufficiency, reduce importation and most probably enhance exportation in the long run.” Here, he said for government to achieve the desired goal, there must be what he described as “the complete repositioning of the energy sector.”
Kabir said storage was necessary to reduce “post-harvest losses”.
All these tasks, according to him, should not be left to the federal government alone. Rather, the state, local governments across the country and the federal capital territory should be actively involved, each playing its role in its domain.
