President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, declared a state of emergency on food security to tackle rising prices of food across the country.
Presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, who disclosed this in Abuja said the President is not unmindful of the rising cost of food and how it affects the citizens.
Tinubu directed that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.
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Alake said the directive is in line with the Tinubu administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported.
The President also directed the immediate release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all-year round.
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“We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilisation mechanism for critical grains and other food items. Through this board, government will moderate spikes and dips in food prices.
“To achieve this, we have the following stakeholders on board to support the intervention effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: The National Commodity Exchange (NCX), Seed Companies, National Seed Council and Research institutes, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, Food Processing/ Agric Processing associations, private sector holders & Prime Anchors, small holder farmers, crop associations and Fertilizer producers, blenders and suppliers associations to mention a few.
“We will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks,” Tinubu said.
The President said the Central Bank of Nigeria will continue to play a role of funding the agricultural value chain. Adding that 500,000 hectares of land have already been mapped to increase availability of arable land for farming.
