FG rolls out initiatives, targets food security
Experts advocate public-private sector collaboration
The Federal Government has rolled out initiatives to enhance and sustain food security in the country. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, in a new year message on his official X handle, @SenatorAKyari, highlighted some of the initiatives lined up for the new year, including strengthening programmes for smallholder farmers by improving access to resources, technology, and funding through increased financial assistance and training opportunities.
This was as some agriculture experts urged the Federal Government to collaborate with the private sector on food production reforms to tackle food inflation.
Kyari said government would also promote eco-friendly farming practices by identifying new initiatives to encourage sustainable farming methods and provide advanced equipment to enhance agricultural productivity. He added: “We are introducing a new initiative to promote greenhouse farming and family garden projects, which will encourage sustainable food production at the household level.”
Other initiatives the government rolled out include improved food distribution systems to give vulnerable communities access to nutritious food through diverse community programmes, while tractors and other heavy-duty machinery would be distributed nationwide to help farmers expand their cultivated land.
The minister further stressed his commitment to promoting private sector involvement in the government’s food security programme.
“Our vision is to create an environment where financial institutions are encouraged to fund agriculture, enabling both smallholder farmers and large-scale investors to access credit and improve their production capacity,” he stated.
He called on state governments, farmers and other stakeholders to unite in building a resilient agriculture sector that could withstand the challenges of climate change and meet global demands.
THE experts made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday, in Lagos, while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s New Year message.
NAN reports that Tinubu in his New Year message restated his administration’s resolve to boost food production and reduce inflation on food and drugs to 15 per cent, while strengthening the economy in 2025.
The President vowed to increase efforts to reduce inflation from 34.6 to 15 per cent through reforms aimed at boosting food production. An agriculture analyst, Mr Omotunde Banjoko, who lauded the administration’s commitment to tackle food inflation, urged the Federal Government to work with the private sector for the actualisation of the policies.
“The plans are good, but the government should take the execution process seriously by giving it to the private sector. At the beginning of Tinubu’s administration, he declared a state of emergency on food and a lot of policies to tackle the situation, but we have not seen these promises come to pass.
“It is not just about making policies, but they need to start taking action, measurable actions. There must be political will to bring these policies into existence. So, the government needs to collaborate with the private sector to see the actualisation of these policies in ensuring food security,” Banjoko said.
On his part, Akin Alabi, co-founder of Corporate Farmers International, called for increased local food production and capacity building of smallholder farmers.
“Tinubu spoke about reducing food inflation in his New Year message. Food inflation reduction has been a conversation that has been ongoing since 2024, and we have had various conversations around it since he got into office.
“However, the critical points are two major factors, to increase local production and support smallholder farmers. We need to invest more in commercial farming, invest more in agricultural technology, bring in more machines and not contracts, not just signing of Memorandum of Understandings. We want to see visible agricultural machines that will help increase food productivity and make the work of farmers seamless and easy,” Alabi said.
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