Get Guardian on GooglePoor harvest may worsen Nigeria’s food crisis, AFAN warns
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has cautioned opposition parties against politicising the recently released Cadre Harmonisé report on the assessment of the country’s food security situation.
The report, released last Friday by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFOA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with other organisations, projected that 33.5 million Nigerians would be food insecure by June 2027 if urgent steps were not taken to address food insecurity.
The minister, who stated that the assessment did not say that 33.5 million Nigerians would face food insecurity if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is re-elected in 2027, said that a wrong interpretation was added to the report for political purposes.
He said that it is disheartening to see food insecurity being used as a political tool, adding that exploiting the struggles of Nigerians is not patriotism, but a great disservice to the nation.
The minister said: “The projected figure of 33.5 million relates to the June to August 2027 period and must be understood within the seasonal nature of food insecurity.”
MEANWHILE, the Kaduna State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Nuhu Aminu, has warned that poor harvest of maize and rice caused by inadequate and irregular rainfall could worsen food insecurity and trigger further increases in food prices across Nigeria.
Aminu, while speaking with newsmen yesterday, said that inadequate rainfall during the 2026 farming season affected the growth and yield of major food crops, leaving farmers with reduced harvests and raising concerns about food availability.
