Ministry Expresses Worry Over Food Imports

Governor Aminu Tambuwal (right), during the sale of fertilizer in Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto State, yesterday

The Permanent Secretary,
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr  Sonny Echono has revealed that Nigeria spends N1 trillion every year to import rice, sugar, wheat and fish which translates to over N10 trillion from 2005 till date.
According to a statement that was obtained from the Ministry of the Federal Secretariat in Port Harcourt yesterday by our correspondent, Echono stated that the country’s food import was growing at an unsustainable rate of 11 per cent, while the country had continued to rely on expensive foods from the global market.
The Permanent Secretary reportedly spoke during the opening of a two-day workshop on the theme, “Food Crisis Prevention and Management Charter” which held in Abuja recently.
Echono was quoted to have said that the importation of these four commodities consumes the equivalent of over N1 trillion in foreign exchange every year since 2005.
It also indicated that the Central Bank of Nigeria  (CBN) was the world’s largest importer of United States  hard red  and white winter wheat, with an annual food import of N635 billion.
“It is also the second largest importer of rice (700bn in 2014), Sugar (217bn) and fish (97bn)”, the statement indicated.
“Nigeria’s food imports are growing at 11 per cent per annum, while reliance on import of expensive food in the global markets fuels domestic inflation.
“Nigeria is importing what it can produce in abundance and import dependency is hurting Nigerian farmers, displacing local production and creating rising unemployment”, Echono said.
Represented by the Director of Agriculture, Mr Damilola Eniayeju, he explained further that the nation had vast arable land for cultivation.
He added that this must be harnessed by stakeholders in order to effectively prevent a food crisis and reduce imports to the barest minimum.
The workshop and representatives from the Economic Community of West African States, United States Agency for International Development, United Kingdom’s Department for International Development amongst other international agencies.