Nigeria Spends N1.7trn On Food Importation Annually – Minister

The Minister of Agricul
ture, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina has said that Nigeria spends $11 billion (about N1.7 trillion) on food importation annually.
Adesina said this in Lagos at AGRIKEXPO 2013, organised by 151 Products Ltd., an international events management company, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Reports say that NAFDAC and the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce also collaborated in the organisation of the event.
He said that food items which were commonly imported were rice, fish, wheat, tomatoes and sugar.
The Minister, who was represented by  Coordinator, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria (CASON), Dr Sotonye Anga, said that the food import bill was 39 per cent of the total budget in 2012.
“Our budget for 2012 was N4.9 trillion. If we are spending N1.7 trillion on importing food, that is 39 per cent of the budget.
“We are spending 11 billion dollars on strengthening the economies of other countries,“ Adesina said.
He stressed that what Nigeria needed to do was direct import substitution whereby we grow rice and other commodities which were previously imported.
Adesina assured that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture was putting in place incentives and strategies to ensure that Nigerians substituted their imports.
The minister said that by this, the nation would be able to provide jobs for the 70 per cent of the total 80 million youths in the country.
Adesina said that there had to be a shift in government policy which had warranted the government to start the agricultural transformation agenda.
“With the strong interest of Mr President, we can achieve a right framework for the country.
“We can achieve a sweeping policy to keep farmers in business, create a robust agricultural sector, put food on our tables and reduce unemployment,” he said.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, said that in 2012, the agency approved 41, 000 products for importation into the country.
Orhii, who was represented by the Director of Foods, Mrs Ogochukwu Mainasara, said that a lot of the products came under the supermarket scheme.
He said that all the food items required their standards to be assured, to ensure safety.