Kebbi Governor, AFAN president differ on food skyrockets

The Kebbi State Governor, Sen.Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Architect Ibrahim Kabiru have taken different position on the causes of increasing prices of food, while the formal posited the cause to increase in foreign exchange on inputs, the latter attributed insecurity as the cause.

This discussion was on last week Tuesday live programme themed  ''Food Sufficiency and national security’’ on National Television Authority (NTA) at 10 PM.

Sen. Bagudu who is also the Vice-chairman of, National Food Security Council (NFSC) said that the hike in prices of food was not as a result of people not being allowed to go to farms as posited by the farmers’ president, but rather a result of the increase in foreign exchange that made prices of agricultural inputs to go higher than expected.

He stressed there was food sufficiency through effective support of the government to dry season farming as the security agencies were able to ensure the returns of many displaced people back to their towns and villages for the purpose of planting pointed that President Muhammudu Buhari’s support to farmers that were affected by the last flood was clear evidence of the sensitivity of this administration to national food security in terms of policy and implementation to food security.

Bugudu said that ‘‘Let me start with food scarcity. There are high prices which sometimes can be induced by other factors to result in scarcity. There is a rise in food prices globally, prices of commodities across the globe have increased significantly and Nigeria is not an exception.  The exchange rate has affected some of the key inputs that go into Agriculture.  Today fertilizer production cost is closer to N7, 000.00 as against less N5, 000.00 in three years ago. So there is a transmission of that increase in inputs like fertilizers, chemicals, and water pumps that are keyed to dry season planting. But there is the availability of crops for those who process or primary producers. In general, we have food sufficiency, of course, we had challenges of drought in some states in the south west in 2020, while flood in about 30 other states. But the net production has increased because of the increased reliance upon dry season farming and the support of Mr. President who approved over N30billion to support those that have been affected by flood and interestingly also he approved that henceforth as part of the package of support that those people should receive insurance as package’’

 Kebbi Governor argued that the determination of Nigerians to produce what to eat overruled the insecurity challenges as many were supported by the government to go back to their towns and villages in order to farm saying ‘‘ The remarkable achievement of the last 18 months even with covid-19 complication. Most of the populations living in the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) camps are going back to their villages and towns, and they are being supported to go back into production’’

However, the president of AFAN, Architect Kabiru emphasized the need for government at all levels to do something quick about increasing food production using improved technologies like biotechnology and mechanization to  checkmate sky rocking food prices, adding it has disallowed farmers from going to their farms. 

He stressed that the bedeviling threat to food security is insecurity as kidnapping and banditry are preventing farmers from going into massive farming that can bring down food prices, adding that ‘‘the government should be able to put in more action to work the talk to ensuring that the agricultural space is free for the people to able to go to their farms for food production optimally’’