The president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, (AFAN), Ibrahim Kabir, persuaded the federal government to appoint a special adviser on food security to address any possible negative effects on food provision within the country related to the lockdown.
He made this appeal while addressing journalists in Abuja, adding that without adequate food, the situation of the common man in the country would get worsen as a result of the government’s directive to stay at home, directive of the government a measure meant to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Kabir noted that the vehicle for sufficient food attainment in Nigeria today issmall holder farmers, and that if these farmers were unable to readily go to their farms, there would be untold hardship in the country.
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The AFAN boss pointed out that the issue of national security and food security are like Siamese twins,tagging the appointment of a special adviser on food security as a “nexus” between food security and national security throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, and afterwards.
Kabir said: “Today there are serious insecurity situations like Boko Haram, herder /farmer clashes, kidnappings, banditry and very low purchasing power among the people.
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“Now there is a global pandemic causing global economic meltdown triggering an all -time low price of oil to compound our situation.”
He also drew the government’s attention to challenges affecting food production in the country and advised officials to tackle them.
According to Kabirh, lack of sufficient farm mechanization, inadequate energy to support value addition, post-harvest losses due to poor handling and a host of other issues pose as threats to the attainment of food sufficiency and, therefore, food security.
