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By Vivian Onyebukwa
Agricultural expert, Dr Olaiwola Ogunpaimo, has applauded the federal government’s intervention in agriculture by declaring state of emergency on food security, food pricing and sustainability, saying that the decision has saved 25.3 million Nigerians from acute food insecurity.
Ogunpaimo stated that the proposed intervention strategies, if well coordinated and properly monitored will provide great opportunities for all people in their various age bracket through continued access to sufficient, safe and balanced diet that meet the dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.
He added that aside from that, it will also increase the level of trust Nigerians have in the present administration. However, he noted that apart from strategies 2, 3 and 8 that possibly suggest that livestock production, forestry and aquaculture were fathomed into the plan, it appears that crop production was the only major concern as little or nothing was explicitly stated in the government’s intervention plan.
He proposed the Netherlands approach whose food security policy was divided into four pillars, involving Netherlands embassies in partner countries where possible. “The government of the Netherlands ensure that specific results indicators were set for each objective. This type of approach can also be adopted by Nigerian government to ensure effectiveness and to accurately measure the progress of the intervention strategies”.
Ogunpaimo noted that while some of the strategies remain challenging to implement, it is important for the government to be mindful of the fact that some parts of that proposal need further consultation before implementation. “Take for instance, paragraph 6 (B), which states that, “the government will also collaborate with mechanisation companies to clear more forest and make them available for farming. With highest regards to wildlife management and forest practices, this may jeopardize the good intentions of the government because of the criticisms that may emanate from it’s benefit being misconstrued. There is presently more than 70 million hectares of land in Nigeria and with the initial 500, 000 hectares of land that the government is aiming at, there may be no need to initially mechanize forest but rather engage in planting arable crops”.
He further made reference to Italy who also declared state of emergency on agriculture on five of their regions due to low rainfall and high temperature in 2022 and part of the immediate intervention strategies that the government adopted was the approval of 34. 5 million euro fund to help those affected.
He regrets that few months ago, Quelea birds ravaged almost 75, 000 (Seventy Five Thousand) hectares of dry season rice plantation in Kebbi State and over 100 farmers lost their crops to the the birds in the Argungu Local Government Area of the state. To date, it is not clear whether affected farmers have been compensated. “It is noteworthy to mention that some of the affected farmers have decided to diversify into other activities because of this particular disaster”.
He equally advised the government to include training, research and the use of technology as part of the strategies if the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu intends to achieve the best results within a short period.
In this regards, he saw the situation as expedient for government to involve specialized tertiary institutions in this intervention programme to assist in research, data management, training, use of technology, among others.
Finally, Olaiwola Ogunpaimo, a PhD holder in Animal Breeding and Genetics from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, urged the federal government to accommodate all the necessary concerns required to achieve the stated objectives.
Few weeks ago, Dr Ogunpaimo wrote an article on how government’s investments in agriculture can create jobs and provide other opportunities for the youth and the government. The article titled, “Prospect And Challenges In The Progressive Intervention Of The Government In Agriculture”, he stated, was published in the mainstream media between 27th June 2023 – 3rd July 2023, and attracted comments, feedbacks and criticism which were overwhelmingly positive.
He then expressed surprise that the government declared a state of emergency on food security, food pricing and sustainability few days ago.
