Covid-19: food security threatened

*Farmers alerted

As the global novel COVID-19 virus spreads to six states in Nigeria, with fear that the infection could get worse, highly-placed stakeholders in the agricultural sector have said that food security would be threatened in the country, just as they had also alerted farmers on the need to take precautionary safety measures that would prevent them from being infected by the virus.

During a chat with Food Farm News in his office in Abuja, the Registrar/ CEO, of the Nigerian Institute of Soil Science, Prof. Victor Okechukwu Chude disclosed that the disease pandemonium could negatively affect food productivity saying that farmers were like every other persons that can be infested thereby resulting to low food production.

Prof. Chude stressed that whatever affected the economy would also affect food production as food production is a part of the economy, and the virus didn't have any boundary at all, it is obvious that the virus would definitely affect the productivity of farmers and food output in the country.

He therefore advised that All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), and other associations under which farmers operate should also be very proactive in advising their members to taking to precautionary measures.

 Also speaking with Food Farm News in Abuja the National Coordinator for Zero Hunger farmers, Dr. Tunde Arosanye revealed that COVID-19 would definitely affect farming activities in the country, saying that anything that had effect on the citizenry would definitely have a cumulative effect on farmers as well.

Arosanye alerted that the lockdown order of the Federal Government (FG) in some few key areas of the economy coupled with some states’ decision in line with the apex Government may negatively impact on food productivity as planting of crops in the new season may become a challenge due to restriction on movement of the people.   

Another major challenge he hammered on was marketing of produce due to food stores and shopping malls that are shut down saying all this would slow down cash flow in the hands of food vendors and farmers, and this might hinder farmers from quickly returning back to farms for more production.  

He also advised farmers to take their health seriously, make use of their face mask, and be cautious while selling their produce and after mixing with customers they should ensure to wash their hands and even take their bathes.