If the report of the All Farmer Association of Nigeria (AFAN) is anything to go by, Nigerians should brace up for a food crisis in 2025. The President of AFAN, Kabir Ibrahim urged citizens to prepare for tough times ahead, unless something is done urgently to curb currency volatility, insecurity and climate change. “Nigeria is on the cusp of experiencing a major catastrophe of food insecurity if extreme care is not taken judging from the macroeconomic instability arising from currency volatility, in- security, climate change and inequity,” he said. “I say this with all sense of responsibility having been involved in Agricultural advocacy for the better part of my 66 years on earth.”
That raises great concern because already families are suffering from food insecurity, arising from scarcity, food inflation and low purchasing power. However, Ibrahim emphasised the urgent need for the country to prioritise food sufficiency, particularly during the crucial first quarter of the year. According to Kabir, who doubles as the President of Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), the government and stakeholders, farmers must coalesce to get Nigeria out of the stranglehold of hunger and extreme poverty. “In 2025 we must coalesce as stakeholders/farmers with the government to get Nigeria out of the stranglehold of hunger and extreme poverty. We can only do this if we work as a unified body with common interests and operating from common ground.
“In 2024 we saw various efforts at stabilising Nigeria’s food system through various windows of support to the SHFs, the MSMEs, the SSPs and the vulnerable people but food inflation is still at an all-time high at 39.93% which portends extreme hunger to a very good number of Nigerians.”
Does that suggest that there is no hope that the problem could be solved in record time? He said, “I believe we will be able to evolve a strategy to make Nigeria semi-food sufficient in the short-term within 2025 and in the medium-term in 2027 and finally attain sustainable food security in 2030. It may appear ambitious but evidently doable through a collective resolve to extricate our country from looming existential challenges.”
