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All farmers Association of Nigeria(AFAN) has warned of likelihood of the pervading food insecurity destabilizing the fabric of the country.
President of the farmers,Arc.Kabir Ibrahim,said that Nigeria is sitting on a time bomb waiting to explode, adding that unless the food crisis plaguing the country is tackled head-on, Nigeria may be heading to the rocks.
He stated that the current inflation especially around food is worrisome more so due to the effect of climate change and insecurity preventing the farmers to readily access their farms.
According to him:”If food becomes inaccessible to a large segment of the society, some form of restiveness may likely erupt which can mar all efforts to improve the economy and living conditions of the people.This will have a more devastating effect on the stability of the country than the banditry, kidnapping, farmer/herder conflicts, Boko Haram and some of the agitations for restructuring the country.There may not be any country to restructure if we do not tackle the crisis in the food system”
He explained that recently the United Nations has been having dialogues all over the World about how to shore up the global food system in preparation for 2050 when the global population will be almost 10billion with Nigeria becoming the third most populous nation on earth with nearly 400million mouths to feed.
He advocated the need for Nigeria to take some painful but far reaching decisions in the management of its food system.
He urged the Federal Government to “Mainstream all the various efforts from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(FMARD), the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), National Agricultural Land Development Authority, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment as well Ministry of Environment.
He advised the government to set up a Food Security Council with a Special Adviser or Director General to properly drive the food system as well as probe all the investments in agriculture where infractions bordering on farmer data capture, unauthorised and fraudulent projects such as the purported 30million Naira Friday Mosque in an unnamed IDP camp, tarred rural feeder roads in urban areas abound.
He urged the government to ensure that all institutions such as Nigerian Meteorological Agency(NIMET), National Agricultural Seeds Council, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, saddled with supporting the food system work efficiently and sustainably.
He said the forecasts made by NIMET for the 2021 farming season are being proved germane and succinct due to the serious threat of famine in Northern Nigeria, while warning that climate change is real and not a fairy tale.
He further advised that agricultural inputs such as chemical and organic fertilizers and herbicides must be readily affordable to farmers and also available like coca-cola.
He said:”The research system must be further supported and charged with the attainment of certain milestones such as closing deficits in food crops such as Maize,Rice, Cassava, Yam, Potato etc especially now that the PVP(plant variety protection)Bill has been signed into law.The Nigerian Customs should be empowered to fine offenders and auction any contraband promptly without waiting until the efficacy of the product is completely lost as in the recently auctioned fertilizers.Any breach of the law around food and food production must be dispassionately made to bear without any exceptions!
“Nigeria must redouble its effort to dominate the food system of Africa through full participation in the Africa Contenental Free Trade Agreement(AfCFTA) because invariably Nigeria is looked upon as the food basket of a sizable portion of the African continent, even if informally. A population of 400,000,000 mouths to feed is a ticking bomb waiting to explode if it is not adequately catered for therefore Armageddon is almost certain if we do not decisive act now”.
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