President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on food security and has included food and water availability and affordability as essential livelihood items within the purview of the National Security Council.
This was disclosed by the special adviser to the president on special duties, communications and strategy, Dele Alake
Key Highlights of Tinubu’s Food Security Masterplan
The government will take immediate, medium-term, and long-term steps to address the food inflation crisis and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable foods to ordinary Nigerians.
The government will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
The government will create a National Commodity Board to review and continuously assess food prices as well as maintain a strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilisation mechanism for critical grains and other food items.
The government will engage security forces to protect farms and farmers so that they can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks.
The Central Bank will continue to play a major role of funding the agricultural value chain.
The government will activate about 500,000 land banks and collaborate with mechanization companies to clear more forests and make them available for farming.
The government will deploy concessionary capital/funding to the sector especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, etc.
The government will explore other means of transportation including rail and water transport, to reduce freight costs and in turn impact the food prices.
The government will work with the Nigerian Customs to remove bottlenecks experienced in exporting and importing food items as well as intra-city transportation through tolling.
This intervention is expected to create between 5 to 10 million more jobs within the value chain.
The speech emphasizes the government’s commitment to ensuring food security and affordability for all Nigerians.
The government is taking a number of immediate, medium- and long-term interventions to address the current food inflation crisis. These interventions are expected to have a positive impact on the economy and create jobs.
