News in brief:
-Â Nigeria’s agriculture minister Abubakar Kyari has informed the national assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture that farmers were significantly affected by the naira redesign policy implemented by the previous administration.
– Kyari outlined the ministry’s action plan for food security and disclosed that the 2024 budget allocates â¦124.1 billion for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Nigerian farmers were severely impacted by the naira redesign policy implemented by the previous administration, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari has said.
He made this statement during a budget defense session before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture.
Kyari emphasised that ensuring food security in Nigeria is the ministry’s primary goal of at the budget proposal. He attributed the current challenges farmers are facing to a combination of factors like insecurity and the naira redesign policy, introduced approximately one year ago by former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele.
Meantime, members of the Joint Committee expressed grave concern about the worsening hunger in certain regions of the country.
For example, Hon. Dahiru Ismaila Haruna, representing Toro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State, painted a picture of hunger-related deaths and widespread malnutrition. He said that there is an urgent need to address food shortages to avert a potential humanitarian crisis.
Also, Hon. Ademorin, representing Shomolu federal constituency, raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of stockpiling food as a solution. He cited the failure of similar initiatives in the past as evidence that this approach may not be the most effective strategy.
Kyari, however, assured the committee that the ministry is actively tackling the challenges plaguing the agricultural sector, while acknowledging the concerns they raised.
Furthermore, he reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to prioritise food security.
The minister outlined a comprehensive action plan aimed at enhancing food security. Key initiatives he mentioned are ensuring availability of planting materials, streamlining fertiliser and agro-pesticide distribution, accelerating national agricultural development fund, and harnessing irrigation potentials.
He added that irrigation efforts will be a collaboration with the ministry of water resources with a view to unlocking the vast irrigation potential of the River Basin Development Authorities.
Kyari subsequently informed the committee that the 2024 budget provides a substantial sum of â¦362.940 billion to improve the agricultural sector. Of this sum, he said, â¦124.1 billion was specifically earmarked for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
