Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – reacting to the steep increases in prices caused in no small part by removal of the fuel levy on July 1 – has declared an immediate state of emergency on food.

All matters pertaining to food and water resources, he said, would be included within the purview of the National Security Council.

He also directed that fertiliser and seeds in government stores be released to farmers with immediate effect to “mitigate the effects of the fuel subsidy removal”.

The president made the decision after meeting key stakeholders of the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa in Nigeria’s capital Abuja.

Food prices across the country have been on the rise in recent years but the situation has deteriorated dramatically since the removal of the fuel subsidy.

Dele Alake, the presidential spokesman, said in a statement issued on Thursday, July 13, that Tinubu was “not unmindful of the rising cost of food and how it affects the citizens”.

Alake said the removal of the subsidy had affected thousands of households and that the president wanted to avert further suffering.

“While availability is not a problem, affordability has been a major issue for many Nigerians in all parts of the country. This has led to a significant drop in demand thereby undermining the viability of the entire agriculture and food value chain.”

Alake said that as a direct and immediate response to the crisis, several initiatives would be deployed in the coming weeks to reverse this inflationary trend and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable food to ordinary people.

As with most emergencies, he said, there were immediate, medium- and long-term interventions and solutions.

In the immediate term, the government intended to deploy some savings from the fuel subsidy removal to revamp the agricultural sector.

“There must be an urgent synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is produced all year round.”

Alake said the president had made it clear that the country could not be comfortable with seasonal farming only. “We can no longer afford to have farming down times.”

He said: “We shall create and support a National Commodity Board that will review and continually 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.

“Through this board, the government will moderate spikes and dips in food prices.”

Alake said more security would be provided to protect the farms and farmers so that they could return to their lands without fear of attacks.

As far as land banks were concerned, Alake said there were 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that would be used to increase the availability of arable land for farming, which would immediately affect food output.

The government would collaborate with mechanisation companies to clear more forests and make them available for farming. There were 11 river basins that would ensure planting crops during the dry season with irrigation schemes and guarantee continuous farming production all year round. This would stem the seasonal glut and scarcity usually experienced.

The government would deploy concessionary capital/funding to the sector, particularly towards fertiliser, processing, mechanisation, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed and labour.

Alake said the government would explore means of transporting agricultural products, which had been a major challenge because of permits, toll gates and other associated costs, including the now even higher price of fuel. Rail and water transport would be explored to reduce freight costs and in turn the cost of food.

In 2021 agriculture accounted for 35.21% of employment in Nigeria. The target was to double that to about 70% in the long term.

Tinubu had committed to create ranches in all the Nigerian states, saying the national government would “pay for the land [surrendered to the state by their owners]”.

Al’amin Umara Lawan, chairman of the Borno State chapter of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said that the declaration of a state of emergency on agribusiness and food production was in the interest of all farmers.

“It is imperative for the federal government to fast-track the distribution of fertilisers, seeds and other farm tools to farmers to boost seasonal farming activities across the country as the rainy season has already set in.”

Lawan said the association would try its best to liaise with the Borno State ministry of local government affairs and other stakeholders to list the names of “genuine” farmers, including profiling and data collection, to ensure all farming equipment would be distributed to “real” beneficiaries to enable “massive food production without any failure”.

Under for former president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, many people pretending to be a farmers benefited from the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme by collecting loans meant for real farmers. Some had still not repaid the loans.

Modu Aji Shugaba, a food security expert, said that the state of emergency was a key measure to diversify the agricultural sector to ensure self-sufficiency and food security. It would increase exportation of food to neighbouring countries and worldwide which would result in economic growth and national development.

“The continued insurgency in the northeast has really affected farmers, particularly in Borno State, where they dare not venture deep inside forests to cultivate huge hectares of land because of incessant attacks by insurgents. Even the stringent security measures have not curtailed deadly attacks on farmers,” he said, adding that recently there had been a spate of gruesome killings in which farmers were beheaded.

“All farmers need the government’s support and interventions, particularly those who were displaced by the insurgency and have returned and resettled in their hometowns. Both seasonal and irrigation farmers need equipment to ensure food production. That is the only way to create food security. And, to further ensure food security, the government must deploy operatives to protect farmers and their lands.

“If the federal government sustains the implementation of this state of emergency on agriculture and water resources for as long as it is needed, farmers will be able to farm maize, rice, beans, groundnuts and millet in abundance. Affordable food will be available in markets across the country. Massive production of food is possible. A farmer who produced maybe seven bags of crops could possibly produce 20 to 30 bags with the government’s assistance,” Shugaba said.

The United Nations said at least 25 million Nigerians would experience the food crisis because of continued conflict, climate change, inflation and rising prices.

Food access had been affected by persistent violence in the northeast states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY), including armed banditry and kidnappings.

“The food security and nutrition situation across Nigeria is deeply concerning,” said Matthias Schmale, the resident and humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria. “I have visited nutrition stabilisation centres filled with children who are fighting to stay alive. We must act now to ensure they and others get the lifesaving support they need.”

He said children were most vulnerable to food insecurity.

“There is a serious risk of mortality among children attributed to acute malnutrition. In the BAY states alone, the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition is expected to increase from 1.74 million in 2022 to 2 million in 2023.

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO