Leveraging On 2016 World Food Day

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr.
Godwin Emefiele last Thursday said the country spends N630 billion annually on food import, principally, Wheat, Rice, Flour, Fish, Tomato paste, Textile and Sugar. In a keynote address he presented at a training workshop on Innovative Agricultural Insurance products held in Lagos, Emefiele described the trend as suicidal.
In another forum, Executive Secretary, of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Prof. Baba Abubaka had said massive importation of food, especially wheat, rice, sugar and fish alone, accounts for a whopping N1 trillion annually.
In spite of the conflicting figures, both Emefiele and Abubaka agreed that the trend was actuated by the fact that Nigeria’s agriculture is still largely depended on rural farmers, who contribute 70 percent of the food produced in Nigeria, through subsistence farming. Sadly, these farmers, with small land holdings of one to three hectares produce sub-optimally due to lack of adequate inputs, insufficient exposure to good agronomic practices and limited access to finance and credit. And that something drastic needs to be done.
With such limited capacity, caused by gross neglect of the agriculture sector, by successive Nigerian governments, in preference for oil and gas, the country is today, the largest importer of US hard red and white wheat worth N635 billion annually, world’s second largest importer of rice at N356 billion in-addition to spending N217 billion on sugar and N97 billion on fish annually.
According to Abubaka, applying the principle of Total Productivity Factor (TPF) of Nigeria’s 98 mha land, 74 mha, representing 75 percent, is good for farming but regretted that less than half is put to use. Worse still, farmers who utilise the said half have limited capacity and still use technics that adversely affect soil fertility, water and biodiversity and warned that unless farmers were empowered with biotechnology, the problem might linger into the future.
With an economy in tumoil as Nigeria’s, these are grim facts that should agitate policy makers, governments, the private sector and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians. The first step is to strive towards producing enough for local production as a means of checking the fortunes annually spent on food imports.
This, many think, is one of the problems the Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP) of the present Federal Government, (2016-2020) should address with the sincerity of purpose it deserves. It must not dwell on lip service and simply die-off, once the fortunes from oil and gas improve.
Interestingly, various governments have walked this path. There was once Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and the Green Revolution, all of which became history, on account of the preference for crude oil earnings. To succeed therefore, a drastic departure with the past is imperative and urgent.
This is why this year’s World Food Day, Sunday, October 16 must rise above the familiar rhetoric and lip service of the past. As governments and other stakeholder-bodies celebrate the day today instead of yesterday, they must put into perspective the huge expectations of a nation in dire need of economic diversification, with agriculture as first option.
The World Food Day which is celebrated annually in over 150 countries, including Nigeria in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in 1945, has been concerned with food production and security and continues to encourage member nations to strive towards food independence.
In 2014, the day’s theme was ‘Feeding The World, Caring for the Earth’, last year, focus was on ‘Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking he Circle of Rural Poverty.” This year’s theme is “Climate Is Changing, Food and Agriculture. Must Too”, apparently re-echoing the themes of 2008, 2002 and indeed 1989.
The question for Nigeria is: What impact has the annual World Food Day made since it was first celebrated in 1982? Obviously little, otherwise, the global fall in crude oil prices would not spell such devastation on the economy.
This is why this year’s event must be seen as a turning-point, a new beginning and a fresh opportunity to embrace whole-heartedly, the imperatives of diversification. The financial sector must be challenged to collaborate with the Government and invest more aggressively in agriculture through a deliberate risk-sharing insurance template that will encourage huge investment.
Also, a special capacity-building scheme must be fashioned to improve on the skills of subsistence farmers with a view to improving their yields, and at the same time address the recurring threats posed by killer herdsmen. Unless and until such far-reaching steps are taken, this year’s observance of World Food Day in Nigeria would end-up like the others before it – an annual jamboree for speech-making without valid plans and actions.
That is what is at stake, this year.