Federal Government Moves to Build Food Reserves for Price Stability – Minister

In order to address concerns about food security, stabilize prices, and guarantee farmers have financial liquidity in the agricultural sector, the Federal Government of Nigeria is vigorously pursuing a strategy to accumulate its Strategic Food Reserve.

According to the government, the gesture would allow farmers to engage in year-round cultivation, particularly during the dry season.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported on Thursday that Senator Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, provided the guarantee during a working tour of various Kaduna facilities with Senator Abdullahi Aliyu, the Minister of State for Agriculture, along with other stakeholders.

The tour took place on the fringes of the National Council on Agriculture and Food Security’s 47th Regular Meeting.

In response to farmers’ concerns that food prices would plummet nationwide despite an increase in input costs, he reassured them that the government was prepared to meet this challenge.

Farmers attend the same marketplaces and profit from lower prices even though they are concerned about a food price collapse.

At the same time, the cost of inputs is a challenge for farmers.

Bola Tinubu, the president, is working on it. We will address the cost of inputs and strike a balance between the welfare of farmers and the general public.

“Very soon, we are also going to stock up strategic reserves, which will give the agricultural sector a lot of financial liquidity so farmers can engage in year-round farming, particularly during the dry season,” he stated.

The minister expressed satisfaction with the high degree of public interest in food production and raw material processing, among other things, after evaluating the performance of a few firms that were visited.

He claims that farmers and food processors have responded to President Tinubu’s clear demand about food security and food sovereignty.

“It is clear that what you see on the field is almost in line with Mr. President’s renewal hope agenda,” he stated.

According to NAN, Olam Agri, TMDK Agro Park, DEBRANCH Farmers, Quality Afriexim Bank Quality Assurance Office, and Tomato Jos are a few of the factories that were inspected.

He claims that the goal of the quality assurance office is to certify Nigerian goods for both home and international markets.

According to Mehta, the company’s main goal is “local production for local consumption,” which aims to develop a middle class in rural Nigeria by giving farmers a steady market and turning their food into superior paste.

She emphasized that the business has the third-largest tomato processing facility in Nigeria, a cutting-edge facility in Kaduna State.

We collaborate with more than 350 partner farmers, offering them assistance, cutting-edge agricultural methods, and a sure market for their produce.

“Tomato Jos seeks to both directly and indirectly create jobs while lowering Nigeria’s dependency on imported tomato products.

“Among other things, it has created hundreds of jobs in the construction of its factory,” she stated.

Mehta disapproved of the importation of tomato paste from China, claiming it was bad for the nation’s economy.

She added that women make up 60% of farmers and that the organization has invested more than $20 million in empowering the people.

Mehta added that Tomato Jos has made infrastructural investments.

She claims that in order to prepare for the production of tomatoes during the dry season, the organization has currently cleared more than 300 hectares of irrigated land.

The market, imports of tomato paste, regulations, inputs like fertilizer and other chemicals, and Tuta Absoluta, a significant tomato pest, are just a few of the issues facing the sector, according to the CEO.

However, in order to guarantee that the illness would no longer flourish in the nation, she urged the Federal Government to establish a unified, prompt reaction.

The CEO also bemoaned the company’s difficulties in selling its finished goods.

Nonetheless, she asked for the government’s and food packaging firms’ cooperation so that she might represent their grains and mop up their products.