Ministers Reel Out Measures to Achieve Food Security, Grow Agriculture

James Emejo in Abuja

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has unveiled the immediate, short, medium, and long-term measures to reset agriculture as well as achieve the food security mandate of President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

Among the immediate interventions is the implementation of the dry season wheat production starting in November as part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) projects funded by the African Development Bank.

The scheme is expected to produce 875,000 metric tonnes of wheat for the country’s food reserve on over 70, 000 hectares across the wheat-producing zones in the country.

Speaking at a media briefing over the weekend on the way forward for the Nigerian agriculture sector towards delivering on the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu, Kyari, alongside the Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the government is making efforts to reclaim lands lost to terrorists for the purpose of farming.

Kyari who had insisted that hunger remained one of the country’s major challenges, said part of the plan was to also fund the production of improved seeds, boost support for smallholder women farmers across the country, make agriculture attractive to youths, and drive mechanisation of the sector.

He said under the new dispensation, the enumeration of smallholder farmers would be key to properly channeling government interventions.

The minister noted that the immediate priority of the government was to guarantee the country’s food security even before talking about exporting to other countries.

He said, “The most pressing actions we are currently handling is preparation for the next dry-season farming beginning from November 2023.”

He said the package also included the blending of appropriate fertilizers to support this year’s dry season farming while making provisions for next year’s farming season well in advance.

 The short–term priority actions (2023 – 2024), seeks to make significant investment in animal feed-crop, fodder, and pasture production as an antidote to the farmers and herders clashes by focusing the development of paddocks, foliage, and fodder estates equipped with necessary facilities for all year-round production. The minister said this would strengthen agriculture and food security institutions, repositioning them for the tasks ahead; reform the National