MAGAZINE

Last Updated: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Nigerian And The Food Crisis

By  BABA NEGEDU___________________________________________

IT is quite thoughtful and pertinent to see that the imminent food crisis threatening to envelop the word has relegated to the back ground all other crises taking place in different parts of the world. This is not  surprising since the importance of food to mankind cannot be over stressed.

Long before now it has been normally accepted, most especially by governments in sub-Saharan African that food will always be available for its inhabitants and everybody will always find food to eat. Even with the pervading poverty in the country, government officials will never miss any opportunity to let the people know that every Nigerian can afford  three square meals a day. That is why the unfolding scenario has made the Nigerian situation precarious.

As always in this clime, those saddled with the responsibility of making sure that the country is well-fed are now  ascribing the situation to a global phenomenon and as such no cause for alarm or are actually waiting for the international community to come up with a solution that can be adopted down the ladder. But if the truth must be told the current situation has a reached a level where every country  is expected to plan the way out for its citizens without recourse to aid, grants or subvention from the outside world.

The Nigerian government can take a cue from, why we are where we are today and hence be assured that no solution should be expected from any quarters. Experts believed that global warming and the use of grains for biofuel are the major causes of the present predicament. Global warming has been with us for sometime now and all efforts to reduce the emission of gases and make the world a better place for us all has not achieved the desired result.

However, many believed that the current situation might send a warning signal and draw more commitment from world leaders on the way forward. With the increasing price of oil in the international market and efforts geared towards other source of energy, grains now become an alternative source of energy, hence, reducing the world supply drastically and making the available ones to be out of the reach of the common man. The first situation is not the shortage itself but the rising cost attached to what is available in the world market.

The World Bank estimates that the cost of grains alone has gone   up by 83 per cent. Reports has it that already about 33 countries has suffered from food related riots mainly in parts of Africa and Asia. Some of these countries includes, Cameroun, Senegal, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Bolivia among others.

In Nigeria here, the reality is beginning to dawn on us and the food crisis is iminent. It is also commendable that those that should know has already begin to show interest in the situation. Already government has released some grains from its reserve as a measure towards cushioning the impact of the skyrocketing food prices. But from all indication, it has not made much impact on the market situation. So much so that, a bag of rice that was sold for between six to seven thousand Naira four months ago has now doubled and now go for up to 12,000  Naira.

The Nigerian situation is made peculiar with the already existing poverty level in the country, over dependence on importation, bad leadership and under utilization of the available land for farming.

According to the Agriculture and Water Resources  Minister, Alhaji Sayyadi Abba Ruma, while responding to questions from the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Agriculture, weak agricultural support services, over dependence on rain-fed agriculture, poor rural road network and inadequate storage facilities are some of the impediments to the growth of the agricultural sector in the country.

Ruma also talked about “promoting the establishment of fertilizer manufacturing plants and expanding the national gas grid to afford locating the plants close to the agricultural farms; developing self-sufficiency strategies for food crops and initiating an advocacy for eat what you produce and produce what you eat’ to encourage consumption of locally produced food.

He talked about strengthening and reforming the commodity exchange board and its being domiciled in the ministry. The minister then suggested the establishment of a special intervention fund to be termed Agricultural Development Fund with take-off fund of at least 200 billion Naira over a period of four years.

Just like the minister other levels of government have also started making frantic efforts towards putting their states in other and if not avert, at least reduce the effect of the looming food crisis.

While distributing fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in Zamfara State for this years farming season at Bugudu town, the Governor of the  state Maumoud Shinkafi said, that over dependence on importation is the cause of the current food price situation in the country.

He, however, stated that since the situation has reached this level, Nigerians irrespective of their status in the society should work relentlessly towards addressing the ugly food crisis for the development of the country. To show the level the situation has reached in the country, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, rising from its standing committee meeting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital recently  urged the government to take urgent measures towards addressing the looming food crisis.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its parley, the editors called on President Umaru Musa Yar’adua to accord more priority to agriculture as a first step to addressing the looming menace. Also speaking on the issue, the Manager Agricultural Business Information Point, Kaduna,  Abdulafatah Yusuf believes that apart from the issue of global warming that is disrupting the free flow of agricultural produce world wide, the different levels of government in Nigeria are not doing enough to encourage those in the agricultural business and most especially the farmers.

Malam Yusuf emphasized that some bureaucratic bottleneck attached to the distribution of fertilizers and other farm inputs should be revised to pave-way for easy access by farmers.

He posited that importation of any scarce commodity as is the case in Nigeria is not always the right option, saying that the way to go is encouraging local producers which according to him has the capacity to feed the country.  Malam Yusuf was reacting to the government plan of trying to import about 80 billion Naira worth of rice as a short term measure aimed at cushioning the impending doom.

The general believe is that the Nigerian government just like its counter parts world over, should seek for more proactive ways of tackling this menace. The situation even becomes more grievous in the country when one remembers that prior to this food impasse, the majority of Nigerians find it hard to take three square meals a day. So while government is working towards making food available, efforts should also be geared towards making the average Nigerians solvent enough to purchase the food.

On its part, the United Nations has set up a food crisis task force aimed at not only supporting farmers but also curbing the widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest because of the soaring good prices.

According  to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the priority is to feed  the hungry by closing a 755 million dollars funding gap for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) this year.

He, therefore, urged donor countries to make more money available because the WFP believes that about 100 million people are currently short of food.

On its part the World Bank has pledged that it will double its lending for agriculture in Africa over the next year and consider providing quicker and more flexible financing for poor countries for them to tackle the food menace locally.

The head of the World Bank, Robert Zochick, urged countries not to use export bans to protect food stocks. He said “these controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves”.

It is generally believed that these are issues that we as a country should begin to look inward. Any solution that do not look at the fundamentals of the problem but aimed at a cosmetic solution will not augur well for us as a country.

The earlier we realize that the issue of food is very much related to the very existence of our polity and existence as a country the better for us. Least our leaders forget that any country that cannot feed its citizens is already a failed one.

©2005 New Nigerian Newspapers Limited.