Nigerians Smuggling Food To Other Countries Causing Hunger – Agric Minister

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has disclosed that those smuggling food to other countries are causing hunger in the land.

According to the minister, the present food shortage currently experienced in the country is due to the smuggling of food across the borders and the naira redesign policy

The Minister, who spoke while briefing the House of Representatives members at the third sectoral debate on Food security also identified food shortage on flooding of farmlands and insecurity in farm spaces as another impediment to food security in the country

He also said the policy resulted in farmers in rural areas lacking the necessary funds to cultivate their farms during the naira scarcity.

“Small-scale farmers had no access to cash because of the naira redesign policy and currency swap especially to pay for their harvest towards the end of 2022 as well as pay for cultivation during the commencement of the wet season.

“As a result of the non-availability of cash, preparation for the 2023 farming season was not enough to produce the much-needed food to feed Nigerians,” he said.

While acknowledging the impact of insecurity of the food crisis in the country, the minister said the COVID-19 incidents had an impact on food production across the globe, while the rise in flooding in 2021 and 2022 caused serious damage to farmland and therefore hurt food production.

He said the president has directed the Ministry and all those responsible to do everything possible to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians by ensuring enough grains are made available to the people.

He also said that currently, about 5000 tractors are working in Nigeria and the country should have 72,000 functional tractors to meet the growing needs of Nigerians.

He however said that the Ministry has signed a MoU with a manufacturer to supply 2000 tractors annually for the next five years.

Kyari also Also disclosed that through the Federal Government intervention and Budgetary Allocation, the ministry has been able to carry out dry farming and will be harvesting 55 thousand hectares of wheat in the first phase.