In a bid to achieve food security, employment generation and others, Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to ensure the availability of food and sustain high agricultural yields in the country as part of efforts to bring down the high cost of food commodity.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Temitope Fashedemi stated this during the Technical Session of the 46th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Food Security, with the theme: “Resilience to Climate Change Towards Sustainable Food Security” held in Calabar, Cross River State, recently.
In a statement, Mrs. Eremia Anthonia, CIO, in the Ministry said the Perm Sec pointed out that the theme was apt and was deliberately crafted, noting that the National Council meetings of any sector was the highest policy making body and for Agriculture the forum was a platform for reviewing federal government policies and programmes towards ensuring the development of the nation’s agricultural sector.
Fashedemi, noted that the agricultural sector remained the springboard for national economic recovery, stability and growth.
The Permanent Secretary revealed that federal government was worried by reports of high costs of foodstuff and promised that efforts were being made to immediately tackle it.
He said the meeting was meant to assess the effectiveness of various policies on agriculture embarked upon by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.
In his words, “As a responsibility at this meeting, we are to dispassionately explore the best approach to sustaining food security, employment generation, and wealth creation in the country.
“This process is to assess the effect of the ongoing initiatives and fine-tune strategies for a meaningful impact on the economy.
“It is to sustain the commodity value chain concept of strengthening sectoral linkages, import substitution initiatives, value-added processing, and export–oriented activities.” he added.
Speaking further, Fashedemi, said that the government wanted to sustain collaborations on agribusiness initiatives by providing incentives to researchers, farmers, and processors and increased agricultural output as well as matched national requirements.
“This will encourage more individuals and institutions to invest in agriculture and create livelihoods for the populace.” he added.
In his remarks, the Cross River Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Mr. Johnson Ebokpo, said the convocation of the meeting in the state was in recognition of its efforts at boosting agriculture.
He said the state government had deliberately taken steps to boost investments in grains, palm nut plantations and recognised the sector as economy’s mainstay.
In his goodwill message, the National President, All Farmers Association (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, represented by the national vice president of the association, Chief Daniel Okafor, said food supply system should be reinvigorated through inclusive efforts.
“We must identify the states in every geopolitical and agro-ecological zone, accentuate their production, and consolidate the gains made in order to attain real food security. We exploit competition and comparative advantages,” he said.
He warned that the meeting should not be another talk show but should come up with implementable outcomes.
In his remarks, Director, Planning and Policy Coordination, FMAFS, Mr Ibrahim Tanimu, said the country requires agriculture initiatives for national socio-economic development.
He urged stakeholders to share experiences on successful agribusinesses for replication based on their comparative advantages.
He assured that the government would continue to provide an enabling environment to actualize the country’s agricultural potential through the engagement of individuals and groups in productive ventures.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of memoranda by the critical stakeholders in the agricultural sector
In attendance were various stakeholders in the agriculture sector, such as State Commissioners, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, World Food Programme, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, amongst others.