Shettima urges diversification from crop production to livestock, fishery, others

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has emphasised the need for diversification from crop production to livestock and fishery, especially in the South-South and South East.

He made the emphasis during the second meeting of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU), held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PFSCU was constituted by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to tackle hunger and hardship in Nigeria.

Shettima, therefore, implored PFSCU to walk the talk in the ongoing bid to ensure food security in the country, saying that Nigerians are only keen in seeing results rather than rhetoric.

He asked members of the PFSCU to work toward ensuring diversification beyond crop production, stressing that “there is need for diversity. Livestock and fishery are areas that I want you to look into, especially when it comes to the South-South and the South East.”

He observed that while there have been many presidential initiatives, the challenge had always been implementation.

He said that the PFSCU was in a vantage position to catalyse the nation’s food security challenges into progress.

Shettima urged the unit to move beyond rural farming and initiate urban agriculture the way it is done in countries like Cuba and other advanced nations.

He said “we have to walk the talk. I will be in Calabar, and we will go to northern Cross River to inaugurate the wet season farming.

“Nigerians want to see what we are doing. And Hon. Minister, I want you to robustly engage the private sector. I want the Minister of Agriculture to drive the process.

“So, let’s walk the talk. This presidential initiative is a very beautiful one, but we have had a lot of presidential initiatives from time immemorial.

“It’s the implementation that counts, and we are in a unique position to catalyse our challenges into progress.”

He expressed hope that the PFSCU would provide food security in the country.

Shettima said the unit boasts of some of the leading lights in the nation’s private sector, whose experiences, exposure and contacts must be harnessed to drive the process.

He also charged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, to come up with solution to the issue of access to loans from credit guarantee schemes.

The vice-president pointed out that the entire agriculture sector deserves support, including the big players.

Earlier, Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno had called for a fundamental shift in the country’s approach to food security.

He emphasised the need for better coordination between federal and state governments and highlighted critical gaps in the current agricultural framework.

He said “there is a very wrong perception in Nigeria about food security – it’s not just about food quantity but also quality.

“A nation will not be secure if the quality of food is not good. What we are facing now is not just about quantum but also about quality of food products.”

The governor stressed the importance of fishery and livestock sectors, identifying them as “the missing links in the current agriculture policies.

“There is need to have synergy with state governments – we have a lot of capacity at the state level,” he emphasised.

Meanwhile, Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River said the state was already taking decisive action to ensure food security.

He explained that “our target is to feed the nation. Give us two more years, it’s going to be something else in Cross River.”

On his part, Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti, focused on implementation challenges, calling for immediate action.

He said “agriculture is time-bound, and we need to get to the field to implement these plans immediately.”

Similarly, Gov., Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, advocated practical demonstration over theoretical discussions in tackling food insecurity.

He said “agricultural doesn’t need so much talking shops. All it needs is practicality. When youths start seeing us, the big men, in our farms, they will be more willing to join us.”

On his part, the minister of finance stressed the need for a financing programme to assist farmers and other stakeholders.

He said “we should sit and fashion out a financing programme. We have the Bank of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry.”

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, highlighted the challenge of agricultural produce being smuggled out of the country.

According to him, the situation negatively impacts local supply.

He, however, assured that government was actively working to address the issue.

In her presentation, Marion Moon, the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture (Office of the Vice-President), said the PFSCU was working toward mitigating and stabilising symptoms of the food crisis in Nigeria.

“We are doing that; we want to start addressing the underlying issue. Our long-term vision and plan is to strengthen Nigeria’s comparative advantage.”