Muhammad
Sabo Nanono, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Monday,
October 14th said Nigeria is producing enough to feed itself, contrary to the
narrative in some quarters that there is hunger in the land.
Nanono said this at a news conference in Abuja
as part of the activities to mark the 2019 World Food Day being celebrated
internationally on October 16. He said it was wrong to promote the idea that
there was hunger in Nigeria, adding that there were only inconveniences being
addressed by the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders like the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
According
to the minister, the World Food Day is set aside to discuss food production.
“From what I am seeing in this conference room, there is no sign of hunger but
obesity. Only a few people like me are either trying to balance their diet or
is it fasting that is responsible for the way some of us look?
“The
policy of the present government for us to feed ourselves is key. In the
process value chains are being created to empower people and give out some
jobs.
“I
think we are producing enough now to feed ourselves and I think there is no
hunger but if you say inconveniences I would agree. When people talk about
hunger I laugh because they do not know hunger. If you go to other countries
you will see what hunger is.
“Food
in Nigeria is fairly cheap compared to other countries. In Kano for instance,
you can eat N30 worth of food and be satisfied. So, we should be thankful that
we can feed ourselves and we have relatively cheap food in this country,” he
said.
On
fears that insecurity and flood may lead to food shortage, the minister said it
is true that there were challenges in some states. According to him, reports
from Gombe and Bauchi states where he visited a few days ago, showed that there
will be bumper harvest.
“Although,
there has been flood and insurgency but I think the surplus that will be
created in other parts of the country will balance up food shortage in other
areas. In Nigeria, we are lucky that one of the food security spot is in Dawano
market, Kano. But what we need is to reorganise our markets to solve the
problem of malnutrition and other issues,” he said.
The
minister noted the narrative of hunger was erroneous, noting that Nigeria was a
buffer zone for migration for the the rest of West African sub regions. He
explained that there were lots of people from other African countries in
Nigeria, who often blend into the system and were not easily identified except
for their assent.
On border closure, Nanono said that the report
from farmers and dealers in rice and other commodities was that of
commendation. He said although many people were not comfortable with the
development when it happened, the testimonies that followed the closure were
encouraging.
The
minister said, “I think when the government came out with the rice policy, most
people felt uneasy because they are used to imported rice, which sometimes are
expired but we are now seeing the benefit. Some of our neighbouring countries
are using Nigeria as dumping ground and efforts to let them know failed. So we
closed the borders to sensitise them on the implications of that.
“One
of the largest producers of Nigeria rice was in my office after the closure of
the borders and they had about 600 tonnes of rice in the warehouse but that
within the week the borders were closed 50 per cent was sold and farmers are
smiling. So, as long as the countries will not respect the protocol, the border
closure will remain.”
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