COVID 19: FACAN President says is lesson to food security

• Disagree on grants for exporters

The National President, Federation of Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) Dr. Victor Iyama has said the pandemic corona virus disease should be seen as a call to rightly reposition our food productivity value chains for sustainable supplies against hunger and enhanced food security, saying that produce exporters should be given free tax loan as against grants to cushion losses effect.


Dr. Iyama said this during an exclusive interview with Food Farm News yesterday on economic lock down.

Dr. Iyama said that Covid 19 should be rather perceived a lesson towards awakening Government’s consciousness to the deplorable state of our agricultural processes that cannot give food security in shortest time of two weeks  despite our abundant potentials in agriculture, stressed that economic lock down against food productivity was an invitation to corona hunger which may be more devastating.

The FACAN President who proffered a quick win solution against economic lock down said that ‘’ Covid 19 is a big lesion for all of us. Yes, the bad side is that is killing people, but it is a lesson that Government should be more serious in food productivity and preservations that will forestall hunger in period like this, and in future. We must be able to stock food that can last us for three years without any interruption ’’

He advised that  Government should proactively embark on facilities provisions in partnership with other private sectors in the area of land provisions, irrigations, mechanizations and agro processing centres  that could enhance productivity of foods sufficiency through all the agricultural value chains  activation, adding that his Association with Russian Government are already planning to establish preservation ware houses in the country for efficient food storage.

Iyama who frowned at farmers being harassed from going to farms, stressed that the economic lock down cannot persist more than necessary, reason being the peculiarity of our economy where many subsisted on daily earnings to feed as against what is obtained in a place like America where the Government has already released 2-3 trillion dollars to cushion the effect of the disease.

He stated that ‘’ the earlier the lock down is brought to an end the better for us. Otherwise we will enter the region of hunger virus, which is absolutely more dangerous than corona virus. Farmers as a matter of urgency should be allowed to go back to their farms to ensure planting and other preparations. Government should look at Agriculture as a means to providing food for the whole of Africa ’’

Speaking on challenges confronting exporters of agricultural produce especially with this Covid 19 situation, Dr. Iyama advocated for interest free loan that would make them able to restock for period of two years, thereby saving the operators in the sub- sector from committing suicide, pointing ‘’ some people are already advocating for grant that will end the usual way where everybody will now be scrambling to get free grants. So it has to be interest free loan and FACAN must actively participate to ensure that money are not given to wrong people who are not agricultural produce exporters. There is no sign that crude oil will not go to 10 dollars , we should start preparing to utilize opportunity in agriculture to create wealth for ourselves and entire country’’