Private sector, FG partner to tackle food insecurity, banditry

From Uche Usim, Abuja

A concerted effort towards crashing the rising food prices is being galvanised through a collaboration between private sector players in the agriculture sector and relevant federal authorities.

To this end, the Nigeria Agriculture Business Group (NABG) is currently in talks with all players in the agriculture value chain with a view to bunching them into one large body for easier and stronger partnerships with the government.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, the President of NABG, Mr Emmanuel Ijewere said there currently exists an  unsatisfactory coordination between the FG and private sector in agriculture, adding that the latter will help the government formulate policies and programmes that will ensure full private sector participation and food sufficiency.

He said a stronger collaboration will end the food scarcity nightmare, which in itself has given rise to terrorism, banditry and other economic crimes.

He said: “We need both sectors to work harmoniously. The private sector agric space is not coordinated. So, we need to bring in all stakeholders under one roof; the insurance services providers, those in packaging, processors, farmers etc, into one room.

“This is not the time for blame game and NABG won’t be involved in that. The private sector are working in silos; from farmers association to processors and other players. We need to demolish the walls of the silos. All these players are like dots and we need to harness these dots as assets and maximise their potential.

“The private sector has been involved in many government programmes and that involvement needs to be deepened. Agriculture is a business and we need to do it well. Agric is going to be Nigerians’ economic foundation, not oil anymore”, he said.

Ijewere also has a word for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, urging the apex bank to widen its private sector involvement.

On the lingering farmers-herders clashes, the NABG President described it as an economic challenge, saying long lasting solutions were being designed.

“It’s an economic issue. We don’t think farmers want to kill herders and vice versa. It’s about dialogue. We are finding permanent solutions to it. Many of those things are rumours that spread. Let’s put the right story out there. It’s about survival. Cattle herders have suffered too and likewise farmers”, he said.