By Chinyere Anyanwu
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has said it is working with critical stakeholders to reverse the current food crisis situation in the country.
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi, gave the indication during the opening of the 6th seed connect conference and exhibition with the theme, “Global Declaration of Food Emergency: The Role of the Seed Industry and Ensuring Africa’s Food and Nutrition Security”.
The move has become critical considering the rising level of food prices in the country despite the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) release on food inflation.
According to the CPI, “The headline inflation rose to 27.33 per cent in October. Food inflation exhibited a decrease of 0.54 per cent, registering at 1.91 per cent in October compared to the 2.45 per cent recorded in September.
“On a month-on-month basis, food inflation rate in October 2023 was 1.91 per cent, 0.54 per cent lower, compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (2.45 per cent).”
The NBS report said, “The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending October 2023 over the previous 12-month average was 26.33 per cent, a 6.50 per cent increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in October 2022 (19.83 per cent).”
The prevailing food inflation can be attributed to several factors including insecurity in the food production zones of the country; high cost of fuel which has translated to high cost of transportation that consequently impacts the prices of the products in the market.
Dr. Abdullahi said that to attain food self-sufficiency or improve the current food self-sufficiency levels, there’s need to reach all potential crop production levels for major food security crops namely maize, wheat, sorghum, millet, soybean, cassava, yam, cowpeas and potatoes, among others.
He maintained that the issue of improved seeds has to be on the front burner given the challenges posed by climate change and the constraints to crop yields due to drought, heat and cold stress, including altered soil properties due to deteriorating soil fertility, floods and diseases and pests, among others.
Abdullahi said, “Accordingly, our production system must overcome biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps in our crops production system through the production and cultivation of improved seeds.
“The development of new climate resilient crops that are tolerant and adapted to biotic and abiotic stresses will require the propagation of novel crop varieties and the increase of new improved and adapted high-yielding varieties under water and nutrient-limited environments should be the new target.
“All hands must be on deck as we work to deliver on the topmost national priority of President Bola Tinubu, under the Renewed Hope Agenda – food security.” The minister said seeds remain a biological embodiment of all production potential that set the limits of response to all agronomic inputs.
According to him, Nigeria produced 110,798 metric tonnes of seeds in 2022 which is a summation of some major seeds that are established in the formal seeds sector.