Costly food prices may impoverish more Nigerians, government warns

The Federal Government, yesterday, raised the alarm that the rising cost of food items might plunge more Nigerians into poverty in the absence of concrete measures.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, raised the concern in Abuja at a national workshop on the application of Juncao technology and its contribution to the achievement of sustainable agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.

The event was organised by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) in collaboration with the Division for SDGs of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DSDG/UNDESA), as well as the National Engineering Research Centre for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) of China and Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture.

The World Poverty Clock (WPC), an online tool that provides real-time poverty data across countries, recently revealed that over 70 million Nigerians live in extreme starvation.

The minister observed that global warming has impacted negatively on agriculture production and could likely challenge food security in the future.

Represented by Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Abdullahi Abubakar, the minister submitted: “Food may become more expensive as climate change mitigation efforts increase energy prices.”

He said Nigeria was moving away from over-dependence on oil and diversifying into agriculture for sustenance, income generation and foreign exchange earnings.

Abubakar observed that the Juncao technology has the potential to boost the government’s efforts in making the best use of huge agricultural resources toward sustainable livelihood as enshrined in the SDG charter.

National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, AUDA-NEPAD Nigeria, Gloria Akobundu, advised that Nigeria must harness its untapped potential to tackle food insecurity.

He said though the government was doing its best to alleviate poverty, “there is a real danger of communities being exposed to insecurity, youth restiveness and malnutrition due to the nation’s population of over 200 million people.”