The federal government has attributed the food scarcity being experienced in the country to smuggling, flooding and last year’s currency redesign policy.
The minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, said this yesterday when he appeared before the House of Representatives’ sectoral debate on agriculture and food security.
Kyari also blamed the problem on the rising insecurity in the country and outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic which had an impact on food production across the globe.
He said while the cash policy limited smallholder farmers’ access to funds for cultivation of their farms during the 2022/2023 period, flooding destroyed farmlands across the country, all combining to impede food security.
“We have seen smuggling of foodstuff to other neighbouring countries. This has affected the availability of food items in the country,” the minister stated.
Also addressing the lawmakers, the comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi said the service had seized about 120 trucks smuggling food items from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.
Adeniyi bemoaned the practice by border communities who engage security agents to smuggle food items, especially grains out of the country, insisting that the decision to stop the smuggling of food outside Nigeria was to fight hunger as well as discourage those who want to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
He said the Service had begun the auctioning of seized food items to vulnerable Nigerians to address hunger across the country with presidential directives.
Adeniyi said President Bola Tinubu had directed that food items produced in Nigeria and seized at the nation’s land borders be sold directly to vulnerable Nigerians to assuage the challenge of hunger in the country.
He said: “Mr President has directed that we sell directly to needy Nigerians food items produced locally but which were seized. This is one of the ways to address hunger and food scarcity we are facing. We have started this in Lagos.
“Also, the President has also directed that imported food items seized by the Nigeria Customs Service should be sold back to the local markets for resale to Nigerians.”
In his opening remarks, Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Benjamin Kalu who presided over the plenary, expressed worry at the alarming projections for 2024 about food insecurity with the number of food-insecure individuals expected to reach 26.5 million, putting nine million children at risk of acute malnutrition.
Kalu noted that out of these, a staggering 2.6 million children face the threat of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), requiring critical nutrition treatment.
“Agriculture, a crucial sector representing 23% of our GDP and employing 51% of the workforce, should be the bedrock of our food security. However, a harsh reality confronts us.
“The past decade has seen an intensification of insecurity in the North East, coupled with fighting in the North Central and banditry in the North West. These conflicts have had a catastrophic impact on food production, particularly amongst our vast farming communities.
“Our collective efforts must focus on addressing both demand and supply factors, along with the persistent challenge of food price inflation. Together, let us endeavour to harness the full potential of our agricultural sector to ensure food security, foster rural development, and propel economic growth across our dear Nigeria,” he added.