Food prices will crash soon, FG declares

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, declared that the prices of food items nationwide would crash soon based on its commitment to ensure food security through the use of new farming techniques in Nigeria.

It disclosed this in Abuja at the 48th Annual Conference of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria. The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, while speaking at the conference said the government is fully aware of the current food crisis in Nigeria.

“But we are putting all efforts in place to ensure the availability of food across the country,” the minister stated.

Abdullahi explained that the government was exploring various indices to ensure food security, working to ramp up food production by returning Nigeria to a sustainable food production system where the country would be engaged in all-year-round farming.

“We are fully aware of the current food challenge in Nigeria. We are fully aware that the problem is what we met on the ground. If it’s available, it’s available. If it’s not available, it’s not available. But we also know that even if it is available, it has to be affordable.

“We are also already planning for the next dry season. Having learned our lesson in the last one, we want to make a huge success of the next dry season farming. So for those of you who are close to where you have easy water, please take advantage of the dry-season farming

“We in the Ministry of Agricultural Food Security are doing all we can, all that is necessary, all that is sufficient to reverse the current trend, ramp up our production, guarantee that with massive production, affordability can be guaranteed.

“Just recently, I’m sure many of you must have seen that report. Irish potato which used to cost about N180,000, has crashed down to about N45,000 because it is now available as a result of the current wet season production in the Plateau. That is the story we expect to see over the next couple of years,” the minister stated.

Also, Abdullahi noted that the government was also working to provide support to farmers by adding value to their production to significantly reduce food service losses while ensuring that food remained available.

He said the lean period, when food is less available, represents a challenging period for the country.

Meanwhile, the minister said the ministry is keen on promoting the Nigerian farmer’s soil healthcare scheme as a key priority and significant intervention for sustainable agriculture; hence the scheme will be established in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.

“It is important to know that the soil healthcare scheme will achieve improved soil health and fertility, increase agricultural productivity and resilience, enhance food security and nutrition, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration, improve livelihoods and income for small-scale farmers, and better adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change.

“The national farmer’s soil healthcare scheme is aimed at promoting sustainable soil management and judicious use of fertilizers at the location and crop specific. As part of the soil healthcare scheme, there will be soil testing laboratories planned for all the Local Governments and states,” he stated.

The minister added that strong collaboration and synergy were therefore required to support the success of this initiative while ensuring the power to create a resilient food system that benefits everyone.

The President of the Soil Science Society of Nigeria, Prof Jibrin Jibrin, said the theme of the conference, ‘Soil Health and Climate-Smart Agriculture for Resilient Food Security System’, is apt considering the reality of climate change.

He, however, noted that due to the population explosion, the soil is currently being degraded.

Jibrin stated that to reverse the trend, the soil must be preserved to boost crop yield in the country.

“The soil is a living thing. If you allow it to get destroyed, then you are destroying your nation. So the government, especially the present government, has understood the importance of soil. That is why it has launched several initiatives and is now working with us to ensure that we treat our soils with science-based knowledge.”