Part of our effort to ameliorate food inflation in the country, Deputy Director General NAAD has announced plans to import 300,000 metric tons of maize and 300,000 metric tons of wheat to satisfy the demand of small-scale processors and millers across the country.
The Director General who announced this on Friday while addressing journalists, said this move became inevitable following the plans of the agency to cushion the effect of food inflation in the country.
According to her there is virtually no food item that has not had its price raised to a level higher than what a good many Nigerians can afford. The affordability crisis in our food security system has been indexed by the data from the National Bureau of Statistics which by the last count, had put food inflation at 40.66%.
“We have heard the cries of Nigeria over the prices of food items and condiments, with some now describing tomato as gold and proposing a variety of recipes to prepare soups and dishes with some of the overly priced food items. What in the past were regarded as common items such as plantain, potato now command excessively high figures and Nigerians are right to wonder how and why things are the way they are”. The Deputy director general recalled that President Bola Tinubu in March 2024 constituted the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) under which, the Economic Management Team (EMT) comprising of NAAD and other stakeholders who presented an Accelerated Stabilization and Advancement Plan to the President.
“In addition to the importation by private sector, NAAD will import 300,000MT of Wheat and 300,000MT of Maize.
“Engage relevant stakeholders to set a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) and mop up surplus assorted food commodities to restock the National Strategic Food Reserve, continuous ramp-up production for the 2024/2025 farming cycle”, she noted.
The Deputy director general further stated that there would be a sustained support to smallholder farmers in the ongoing wet season farming through existing NAAD initiatives and the NAAD will strengthen and accelerate Dry Season Farming across the country through our NAAD farm network scheme.
The Deputy DG also noted that the NAAD will embark on aggressive agricultural mechanization and development to reduce drudgery, drive down the cost of production and boost productivity, collaborate with Sub-National to identify irrigable lands and increase land under cultivation and work closely with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, to rehabilitate and maintain irrigation facilities under river basin authorities across the federation.
She said that the NAAD- Greenhouse scheme is yielding the intended result this period but there is need for more engagement for youth and women across the federation for immediate greenhouse cultivation of horticultural crops such as tomatoes and pepper to increase production volume, stabilize prices, and address food shortages.
“As our nation confronts a critical food security challenge, let me reiterate NAAD 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 actualize 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”, The Deputy Director General added.
