Covid19, insecurity make silos depleted, says food/ strategic Director

The Director, Food and Strategic Reserve, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Engr. (Dr.) Huruna Sule has said that 2020 covid-19 pandemic disease, insecurity, and climate change challenges across the six geo- political zones of the federation have made the nation’s concessional silos depleted as intervention releases of grains were given to front-line states, poultry association and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by the Federal Government (FG). Engr. Sule stated this in his office last week Wednesday in an exclusive chat with Food Farm News.

Engr. Sule pointed that all the effort of the FG through the FMARD to ensure bumper harvest for the past years were thwarted by the sudden appearances of 2020 covid-19 pandemic disease and insecurity challenges resulting to many farmers being killed and others displaced from rural cultivations,  coupled with negative impact of flood and drought joined together to make food storage impossible, saying there were no surpluses to be mopped into the silos already handed over to private organizations for proactive management to ensuring food security in time of scarcity.

He commended the untiring effort of President Muhamudu Buhari towards ensuring that agriculture is repositioned to create job and wealth to people, saying the challenges facing the sector have been well discussed with appropriate approved actionable memoranda at the recently concluded 44th National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD), which is the apex decision taking body on agricultural policies under the chairmanship, the minister of agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono.

He said‘’ all the silos concession to private organizations are now depleted due to covid-19 and insecurity that prevented planting and harvesting that should have ensured mopping during plenty to store for release during scarcity. All this could not happen due to covid-19 and insecurity of 2020 and 2021 respectively’’

He said government was able to release 70,000 metric tons of grains to mitigate food scarcity for people last year to cushion effect of covid 19 impact saying that ‘’ last year we are able to release 70,000 metric tons of grains from the reserve to mitigate food challenges in the country, and we are still prepared to do such as long as farmers are allowed to farm in various states of the federation towards storing the excesses from being wasted due to gluts’’

‘’ The NCARD meeting has exhaustively discussed challenges of food insecurity in the country with a resolutions through appropriate memos to that effect that were all approved by the council chairman in person of Minister, Alhaji Sabo Nanono and his members towards proffering solution to food challenges in the country. All the memoranda have received critical unbiased criticisms at the technical level being headed by the FMARD Permanent Secretary (PS) with all the states PSs with other stakeholders from both the public and private sectors before they are being presented to the national council members for approval. And because of the peculiarity of the food challenges in the country and the need for urgent solutions, all the memoranda were all approved’’ said Engr. Sule.

The director however called the states government to embark on internal generation of security using the youths (like in Niger state where the youths are already taking their destiny in their hands) to mobilize against banditry, kidnapping and insurgency for farming activities to be reinstated at the rural areas, saying this is what would bring back surplus agricultural produce for harvesting and thereby ensured mopping of the excesses back into the silos for reservation against distressed times.

He however enjoined Food Farm News to ensure talking to the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA), Rural and Land departments of the FMARD for more detailed actions that would be taken by the government in terms of policies towards ensuring food security in the country through the ministry and henceforth leading to storing excesses against wastages.