Food Importation to the Rescue

Stakeholders in the agro sector have expressed their approval to the federal government’s move to embark on food importation, but warns that measures must be put in place to protect domestic producers, writes Dike Onwuamaeze

Nigeria is faced with a desperate food situation that is putting cost of food items above the reach of majority of its citizens. This is fueled by climate change, prevailing insecurity that has chased farmers away from their farmlands and the unintended consequences of the federal government’s recent economic policies, especially the floating of the Naira and removal of fuel subsidy. 

To address the growing acute food shortages in the country, the federal government announced last week that it would open the countries border for full scaled importation of food items such as rice, maize, wheat and cowpeas etc.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Abubakar Kyari, said that the government has resolved to address the growing food shortages by granting a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities. This measure included the suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities through land and sea borders.

In addition to the importation by private sector, the federal government would import 250,000 metric tonnes of semi-processed of wheat and maize respectively to be supplied to the small-scale processors and millers across the country.

Guaranteed Minimum Price

Other measures mapped out by the federal government include engagement of relevant stakeholders to set a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP), mopping up of surplus assorted food commodities to restock the National Strategic Food Reserve, ramping up production for the 2024/2025 farming cycle through sustained support to smallholder farmers in the ongoing wet season farming and strengthening of dry season farming across the country.

The federal government would also embark on aggressive mechanised agriculture to boost productivity, collaborate with sub-national governments to identify irrigable lands and increase land under cultivation, rehabilitate and maintain irrigation facilities under river basin authorities across the federation; develop strategic engagement for youth and women across the federation for immediate greenhouse cultivation of horticultural crops such as tomatoes and pepper to address food shortages.

It would also fast-track the ongoing engagements with the Nigerian military to rapidly cultivate arable lands under the Defence Farms Scheme, while encouraging other para-military establishments to put secured available arable lands to cultivation.  

Kayri said: “As our nation confronts a critical food security challenge, let me reiterate Mr. President’s unwavering commitment to attaining food security and ensuring that no Nigerian goes to bed hungry.

“To this end, I can assure all Nigerians, that my team and I, will swiftly and diligently actualise these crucial policies to ensure food security for everyone in the country in the immediate term as we also continue our strategies for long term interventions to address the underlying causes and ensure sustainable and resilient food systems in the country.”

President Bola Tinubu explained recently at a the public presentation of ex-Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba’s book “My Life in the Public Eye” in Lagos that the temporal suspension of import duties on  selected food items into the country,.

Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said: “We are taking steps to address food shortages by temporarily removing tariffs on imported grains and other food items.

“We will continue to drive local production and ensure that we produce what we eat and use locally.”   

The decision to embark on massive food import came four months after a prominent Professor of Economics, Professor Akpan Hogan Ekpo, had called on the government to do so. In February, Ekpo told THISDAY that the government should import food now. “People are hungry. There should be massive import of food. We should not rely on local farmers because if you plant corn today you will not eat it tomorrow. It will take a while. So, we should import food massively for people to be able to eat. We have the money to do these imports. Use that money to import food to assuage the vulnerable groups,” he said.

Massive food importation

In the same manner, an Economist and Chief Executive of Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, saw the move to embark on massive food importation as a right temporary measure. Yusuf, however, said that government should not be allowed to be among the importers.

He said: “The truth is that we are dealing with an emergency situation which requires an emergency response.  This is not the time for idealistic propositions. Most of our citizens are very hungry.  The social and political implications are grave.

“The government had made it clear that the relaxation of food imports was going to be temporary, just for about 150 days; besides the emphasis is on intermediate inputs for agro allied industries like flour mills.”

He pointed out that over 90 per cent of wheat used by our flour mills is imported. Therefore, importation of wheat is not new. The idea is to reduce the cost of wheat imports by removing the import tariffs. This would bring down the price of bread and noodles for instance.

“We import wheat largely because our climatic condition is not suitable for wheat production.  But I am aware there are efforts to get adaptable varieties.

“As for rice, my understanding is that what will be allowed for importation would be feedstock for our rice mills.  Our rice mills are producing grossly below installed capacity because of inadequate supply of rice paddy, which is the feedstock. 

“Lagos State, for instance, has the biggest rice mill possibly in Africa.  But there is no feedstock. The mill is currently operating at less than 15 per cent of its installed capacity, “he said.

“The same is true of other rice mills across the country. These are some of the fundamental issues that the stabilisation plan is designed to address. The reality is that trade policy option is one of the major solutions available to government to fix the food crisis challenge in the short term.

“The scarcity of maize is one of the biggest challenges facing the poultry industry as well. Many poultry businesses have gone under as a result of the prohibitive cost of poultry feeds resulting from the high cost of maize. Billions of Naira worth of investment in poultry has been lost,” he added.

Yusuf noted that the government had stated that there would be guaranteed minimum price for agricultural products produced locally. There is a concurrent commitment to support domestic agricultural production also clearly outlined in the plan. It is, therefore, not only about food importation. This should address the concerns of the local farmers.

He, however, stated that it would not be a good idea for government to be involved in direct importation of food because of its risk of mismanagement is very high.  “We should allow the market channels to be used for procurement and distribution,” he said.

He added: “Regrettably, our food crisis has been complicated by insecurity rooted in an asymmetric warfare.  This is the crux of the matter. Insecurity is perhaps the biggest risk to food security presently. This is a kind of warfare that cannot readily be fixed.”

AFAN Backs FG

Speaking in the same vein, the National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr. Kabir Ibrahim, described the government disposition to encourage food importation within a given time frame as a right move in the right direction.

Ibrahim said that there is need to import for a specific period the quantity that is projected to close the insufficiency in the country’s food supply.

He, however, noted that scaling up agro productivity in the country is the ultimate route to sustainable food security. This could be attained by subsidising the means of production. “For instance, fertilizer can be subsidised so that farmers can afford it. Inputs like herbicides, insecticides and mechanised tools should also be available and affordable.

“Then we need to work on the insecurity in some parts of the country, especially food producing areas. Because no matter what you give to the farmer, if he cannot seamlessly go to his farm to produce, there will not be food availability in the country.”

He also suggested that the Bank of Agriculture needs to be recapitalised in order to be in a position to give loans to farmers.

“We have advised that government should recapitalise it. Even farmers will be given equity in it so that it will become their bank. Also, the loans have to be revolving because you it cannot give to everyone at the same time,” he said.

Ibrahim also said that multiple taxations across the states are discouraging, especially now that the cost of transportation has more than quadrupled due to the high cost of diesel and petrol.

“We are talking to the governments to look into this, especially the state governments, because multiple taxations take place within the domain of the state governments. Every state should make sure that vehicles pass through its territory relatively free without paying these multiple taxes,” he said.

Avoiding unintended consequences

The Managing Director of Burke-Fraizer Consulting Limited, Mr. Ayo Abiola, who is also the consultant for the Market Traders Association of Nigeria, said that government should put in measures to ensure that the food importation would not come with unintended consequences that would seriously backfire on Nigerian farmers. Abiola said that this might discourage local food production and would take more than 24 months to motivate farmers to return to production.

He said: “Massive food import might lead to a glut that will backfire on local producers. The loss will be huge to local producers. The federal government has to first of all put the house in order by devising measures that will increase local food.  

“My advice is that federal government has to look inward to identify where there are gaps are and fill them. They should also allow the distribution of the imported food items to pass through the existing local distribution chain. But a system where they will dump the imports on the market will discourage the local farmers.”