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The National Food Community Bank, the pet project of Her Excellency, Chief/Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria is breaking ground to get nutritional foods to the poorest of the children through the established food banks already in Borno, Jigawa, Kogi and the recently inaugurated one in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The funding disposition of many if not all states' Governors to food security is the point of concern in this editorial, even in the instances of increased budgetary allocations by the Federal Government ( FG) to the governors every month.
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Our attention has been drawn to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officials meddling into selling fertilizers by themselves. This is unconstitutional, and outrightly off its mandate monetary policy.
The cases of budget padding in Nigeria's democratic process are very prominent in the last two decades, but allowing such to enter into agricultural research institutes is where it becomes a thing of great concern to us, especially with the present food insecurity in the country that needs pragmatic spending for the sector's development.
The rise of dangerous chemicals to human health is increasing daily in our food systems, as concerns about this unwholesome development through fertilisers and pesticides are undermining the standards of our agricultural produce.
For a proactive attainment of food security using modern technology, the state governments must be allowed to take the lead.
The recent declaration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, through the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS), Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, ordering the Federal Executive Committee to immediately embark on food prices crashing to ensure accessibility, availability, and affordability, is very commendable in giving succour to poor Nigerian citizens. Still, our curiosity is how this directive can be made effective with empty buffer storage across the states.
The special prayers session for food security as proposed by the authorities, revealed in a leaked memo, signed by the Human Resources Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS), when the needful had not been done and other options had yet to be exhausted, is an admission of failure.
Our crave to be a food secured nation will be in vain except will passionately deplore the value chains Agricutural model into driving the sector in an holistic manner for every economic crops and livestock productivity.
The climate change challenges is taking tolls on food security even at the point that no amount has been released to any research institute to perform its statutory capital project responsibilities as the year cross over the middle of the 2024.
How do we relate this to the state of emergency being declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the sector. How can research delivery be helpful to food security when the necessary funding are not timely released. These are the questions on going in the minds of concerned stakeholders.
Apart from much expectations on repositioning the methods and styles of policies implementation of the sector, more expectations on research development is highly envisaged in this present dispensation for smarter climate change agriculture in view of scarcity of foods in Nigeria.
But all these are all in doubt even as no dime has been released to any Agricutural research institute to justify the seriousness of Government to tackling food security in the country through more availability of new research improvement into farming systems.
Six months have already been counted with no fund being released to enhance research, neither is any concrete direction through the National Agricultural Council Meeting where the decisions to chart direction for the sector is been taken.
Our concern particularly on this editorial is why are we repeating the same mistake of untimely funding to research particularly on matters that relate to food security.
The impact of climate on food security has necessitated the need for research institutes to double their efforts towards drought and floods resistant seed varieties with ecologies adaptability so as to be able to give high yielding crop varieties even in the face of shorter and longer rainy periods as the case may be.
All these will be wishful thinking without a proactive finding system to research and extension, because the present situation where money to operate in our agriculture research institute is a signal to unpreparedness to checkmate food insecurity.
And this must be uppermost in the heart of any Government to help the growth of the food systems in Nigeria.
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The recently signed Oronsanye rationalization and merger report by President Tinubu for implementation has no doubt been very timely in view of wastages and duplications of functions with many agencies performing just one function.
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The Minister of Aviation and Eurospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamu, Senior Advocate of Nigeria ( SAN) while unveiling 2024 Seasonal Climate Predictions ( SCP) said that lovers of yam should expect late harvest of the crop, and this also implies many other produce in the region will be affected as well except if our farmers are well educated about climate smart farmings with constant relevant information on what to do to overcome low amount of rainfall requirements to crops as compared to the previous years.
The practice of farming being seen as culture instead of business is what we are looking at in this edition.
Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) of the United Nations ( UN) is very particular about food security around the globe.
Day by day, the attention food security situation of the country is receiving has called for the need why farmer Associations must put their house in order.
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No doubt by all global standard, our expenditure may have seemed far below 10 percent of our annual total budget to Agriculture as being stipulated in Mabuto/Malabo declaration by African Head of States in 2014.
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The farming situation in the country has been threatened to an extent that 60-70% of crops and livestock producers have abandoned their activities for the safety of their lives elsewhere.
Local Government councils in Nigeria is the third tier of executive Government which are not allowed to be financially autonomous to the point of being able to carry out their statutory responsibilities towards social economic activities’ development through infrastructural provisions at their own levels to eradicate poverty.
We must commend the effort of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for being able to host the 45TH meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development (NCARD) in partnership with Plateau state government through its agriculture ministry.
