By Dele Ogbodo and Victoria Onyisi
…Ministry expresses readiness to cultivate 70,000 hectares for wheat from next month
The Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, over the weekend said President Bola Tinubu is set to declared open the road map expected to lift the country from food security challenges next month (November) 2023.
This, he added will be done through the Ministry’s First National Agriculture and Food security Summit where government at every level, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and International Investors and bodies will be involved.
Kyari, acknowledged that President Tinubu has demonstrated strong political will to transform the country’s agriculture and food security space by not only changing the name to Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security but also making food security the number one presidential priority of his agenda.
Addressing Journalists in Abuja, the Minister in company of his Minister of State, Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi, said the summit is programmed to enlist the interest and support of all the actors in Nigeria’s agriculture and food security sector.
According to him, the Ministry has concluded strategise on the implementation of the dry season wheat production starting in November 2023 as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) projects funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Under the scheme, Kyari, said the target is to produce wheat over a 70, 000 hectares across the wheat production zone of the country with an expected yield of 875,000 metric tonnes for our food reserve.
This, he explained is in the bid to create the future of affordable and safe nutritious foods while focusing on farmers’ welfare.
He said the summit shall be chaired and declared opened by President Bola Tinubu where he is expected to make specific declarations and outline the expected call to action for all the stakeholders with clear metrics, adding that the summit portal will be launched to kick-start the pre-summit activities.
Kyari said: “let me use this opportunity on behalf of myself to thank Mr. President for this rare opportunity to lead the renewed efforts for our agriculture and food security sector, addingI also further extend our appreciation to the Permanent Secretary, Management, Staff, Development Partners, Organized Private Sectors (OPS) and other stakeholders for their cooperation and support in our developmental efforts.
“I also appreciate the various assurances offered to work with us to attain this mandate. With your massive support, we are set to change the narrative of our agriculture and food security sector for the benefits of our renewed food security and welfare of Nigerian farmers.”
The Ministry, according to him, si committed to providing the desired leadership direction to steer the agriculture and food security sector towards the attainment of the key priorities of the President’s 8-point agenda which was unveiled on August 28.
He said: “Since our assumption, we have received briefings from all the departments and agencies with a view to understanding where we are, what is on-going that is delivering the desired results and outcomes, and what needs to give way.
“We have examined what needs to change and what we need to do to re-align existing initiatives and programs that are on course to be in line with the four priorities of the renewed hope agenda that are core to the mandates of the Ministry.”
However, he added that the Ministry shall be guided by some lessons learned in the implementation of the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP) which was launched for 2022-2027, adding that many of the initiatives and programs being implemented by the Ministry from 2022 to date were the focus of our engagements with the ministry staff.
The Minister revealed that the Ministry is in the process of carrying out a robust stakeholder analysis that will produce a working stakeholder map showing who does what, where and how and what are the mutually beneficial areas for the small holder farmers, large scale farmers, processors, marketers and the Organized Private Sector (OPS). This in itself will bring about resource-use efficiency while reducing duplication and wastages.
According to him, the current state of food security is threatened by issues of availability and affordability, adding that malnutrition and the rates of food inflation requires every stakeholders work all year round to ensure increased food production while putting in place measures to make food available, accessible, affordable, and of the right nutrition on a sustainable basis.
The underlying challenges noted above call for innovative and trending solutions which are better understood when we recount the challenges of insecurity, youth’s unemployment, and our increasing population and attendant competition for the same prime agriculture land for mass housing schemes and other competing developmental projects, he said.
Apart from the country’s rising growth population, he said climate change poses an even greater challenge, adding: “Our South is pounded by the rising tide of coastal flooding and erosion. In the middle, the rainy season brings floods that kill and displace multitudes”.
“All these challenges require not just a change in tactics and approach but injection of new knowledge, innovations, skills, techniques, technology and value orientation.
“Climate change is now a very high impact and high-likelihood event and we need to mitigate and plan for it if we are to guarantee sustainable food and nutrition security for Nigerians.
According to the Minister, the most pressing actions that administration is handling is preparation for the next dry-season farming beginning from November 2023, which are listed above: “Certification of available planting materials for some food security crops in readiness for dry-season farming, ii. Aggressive promotion and preparations for dry season farming which commences from November this year.
“Blending of appropriate fertilizers to support this year’s dry season farming while making provisions for next year farming season well in advance, providing Train-the-Trainer for extension agents involved in dry season farming in collaboration with wheat producing States and other partners such as flour mills.”
He added that arrangements are at advanced stage for dry season farming of rice, maize and other horticultural crops.
