‘Tackle the $22b food imports’

Daniel Essiet

With Nigeria spending  an average of $22 billion (N7.92trn) each year on food imports, the National President, Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, has urged the Federal Government  to sustain closure of the land borders  to control imports.

Iyama maintained that the country has capacity to produce rice  and other food items if the appropriate support is given to farmers, especially rice farming. This reason, he argued, remains one for which the government is investing heavily in farmers.

He explained that one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s key policy pillars has been to stimulate the agricultural sector and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on oil, which accounts for around 85 percent of the country’s exports.

According to him, Buhari’s directive that the CBN should block food importers’ requests for foreign currency to  import items including staple food like rice, was one of the best actions he has taken, insisting that since then, domestic rice production has increased.

Like China, Iyama said every effort will be made to ensure Nigeria achieve full food sufficiency, urging Nigerians to bear with the government. While consumers’ demand for imported food has been growing steadily ,Iyama warned that  there was need  for Nigerians to adapt their standard of living  in terms with the realities of the times. He urged the government to bolster the regulation of food to ensure safety.