News in brief: NEMA, under instruction from the NEC, is set to distribute grains to states to address food security concerns and reduce high food prices. The goal is to share over two million metric tons of grains and an equivalent number of fertiliser bags within two weeks, with state governments offering them at subsidised rates or free to residents.
The Nigerian National Economic Council (NEC) has instructed National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to begin distributing grains to states. According to the report, the directive came after the Council met at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
The efforts are in line with the Tinubu administrationâs state of emergency declaration on food security nationwide. Nigeriaâs vice president, Kashim Shetimma, had chaired the meeting, which had governors in attendance.
NEMA is to begin distributing the grains to states within two weeks to crash current high prices of food items across the country. State governments will then distribute the grains at subsidised rates or free to their residents. The target is to disburse over two million metric tons of grains and almost equivalent number of fertiliser bags within the timeframe.
Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed, addressed newsmen about the outcome of the meeting, claiming that action on food security topped the agenda. He added that the federal government is liaising with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), NEMA and the Ministry of Agriculture to tackle the problem.
Some of the resolutions passed at the NEC meeting include;
- Supporting smallholder farmers with agricultural equipment, and capacity building on good agronomic practices.
- Improving pasture development by building farm settlements for pastoralists and ensuring breed improvement.
- Promoting out-grower scheme for cropping maize and soyabean for livestock production.
- Constructing rural roads, mini-water treatment plants, among other facilities geared towards improving the entire livestock value chain.
- Fast tracking Special Agro-Industrial Processing zones operations in each of the six geo-political zones.
- Revitalising moribund agricultural industries for the promotion and production of food security.
- Establishing of more mini earth dams and run-off water harvesting structures to promote all year-round farming.
- Strengthening agriculture research institutes and colleges for increased research output and agricultural productivity in the country.
- Bridging fertiliser raw material gap by fast tracking the local exploration of Di-Ammonium Phosphate and muriate of potash.
