Tackling Food Insecurity In Nigeria

There are signs that the present administration may have much to worry about than the current threat of terror, withdrawal of fuel subsidy and, of course, the politics of federal character principle.

Typical of us political stories have dominated the media and our discourse thus, relegating to the background critical issues like agriculture and why the economy is in more danger than we think.

This is the pathetic and scandalous food import story of Nigeria as the world marked this year’s World Food Day on October 16, 2011.

World Food Day celebration is observed annually by all Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) member-nations. The theme for this year’s celebration is: “Food Prices: From Crises to Stability.”

The Day is aimed at creating awareness on the nature and dimension of the world food problem and develop the sense of national struggle against hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

Some Nigerians marked this year’s World Food Day with cynicism as they observed that the nation had failed in agriculture and thus had nothing to celebrate. Realising the nation’s immense potential to earn huge foreign exchange annually from agriculture, they say agriculture could account for more than 60 per cent of the nation’s resources.

But why has agriculture become one of the most critical challenges the country faces today? Some observers have identified failed policies and the massive importation of food by the government as reasons.

“Agriculture has been abandoned for a very long time and has no place in government policies. The result is the inadequate production of food, hence, the food importation. How can we produce enough when our farmers still use archaic system of farming and food preservation methods. This leads to waste and poor  pricing,” says the publisher of Agric Business Journal, Mr. Owuje Harry.

Harry says for Nigeria to overcome the current food insecurity, food importation must stop and we must harness our capacity to produce. This, he says, must include the capacity to have the technical know-how on modern food production.

The alarming food situation in the country come into proper perspective when at a recent forum, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, declared that “Nigeria is one of the largest food importers in the world.” The minister gave a breakdown of Nigeria’s food importation bill.

According to him, the food import bill between 2007 and 2010 was N98 trillion or $628 billion. In 2010, the nation spent N632 billion on wheat importation, N356 billion on importation of rice, N217 billion on sugar importation and N97 billion on importing fish.

A quick aggregate of this gives us an annual food importation bill of N24.5 trillion, which, translates into about $160 billion.

Observers classified these figures as unwholesome revelation, particularly when it is considered that Nigeria has 74 mha of arable lands, but remains a gross importer of food. This, they say, is an antithesis of what the nation was in the 1960s when agriculture provided the main source of employment, income and foreign exchange earnings for the country. According to the experts, the advent of oil in commercial quantity in the mid-70s heralded an era of decay for agriculture in Nigeria.

“It is interesting to note that as a nation today, we produce 500,000 tonnes of rice whereas we consume 2.5 million tones,” says a source.

The Land Use Act has also been identified as impediment to mass production of food in the country. Observers say the law must be repealed or amended to enable farmers direct access to land.

A farmer, who resides at Yeghe in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Isaac Ndine says : “Most rural dwellers are farmers, but have no direct access to land because of the Land Use Act. I appeal to the government to tinker with that law.”

Ndine argues that government always acquires land for white elephant projects and not for agricultural purposes, and this, he says, hinders effective farming. He calls for improved distribution of fertilizers, seedlings, credit and extension services.

Similarly, the World Food Day was marked in Rivers State. A statement by the State Agriculture Commissioner, Mr. Emmanuel Chinda, affirmed the state government’s determination to complete the resuscitation of Risonpalm estimated at N20 billion and the N1.5 billion Buguma Fish Farm.

The banana/plantain project in Ogoni area and the community farm project spread across three local government areas, the commissioner says, are among efforts by the government to boost food production in the state.

He says farmers from the state will benefit from a N2 billion loan scheme to be accessed through the state micro-finance agency.

“We cannot, of course, fail to mention the procurement  and installation of oil palm processing mills across 16 sites in the state aimed at encouraging the development of oil palm estate farmers who were limited by the non-availability of processing facilities, “ says Chinda.

Meanwhile, some residents of Port Harcourt have raised alarm over what they described as excruciating high cost of food items in the city.

Some of them spoke to The Tide and lamented the exorbitant prices of food stuffs coupled with the economic hardship in the country which has made life unworthy of living.

A house wife, Mrs. Joy Waribo, who resides in Kano State but is in Port Harcourt on a course, deplores the unbearable living standard in the Rivers State capital.

“Since I came to Port Harcourt two months ago, I have been trying hard to adjust to the expensive nature of the markets. In Kano, N700 could prepare a pot of soup. Not so in Port Harcourt. Here you need far more than that for a dish,” says Waribo.

Some traders who spoke with The Tide, however, advised the federal government to suspend its proposed removal of fuel subsidy as it will cause price increases in food items and other commodities, particularly in Rivers State, where it is assumed all residents work in oil firms.

Arnold Alalibo