Nigeria’s Food Importation Policy Is A Threat To Agriculture, AfDB Chief Warns

Nigeria’s Food Importation Policy Is A Threat To Agriculture, AfDB Chief Warns

President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has warned that the Nigerian government’s plan to allow significant food importation might ruin the nation’s agricultural sector.

The Nation reported that on July 10, the Minister for Agriculture Abubakar Kyari announced that the federal government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders, for 150 days.

Adesina made the remarks while speaking to African Primates of the Anglican Church at a retreat in Abuja on the subject of “Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church,” according to a statement posted on the AFDB’s X account on Sunday.

The African Development Bank president said: “Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing.”

He issued a warning, saying the strategy may undo all of the laborious efforts and financial contributions made by private citizens to Nigeria’s agriculture industry.

“Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilise prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilise food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, which will further help stabilise the Naira,” he said.

“Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity,” he said, “Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation.”

Adesina said Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning, “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.”

The president of the African Development Bank noted that nearly a third of the world’s 780 million hungry people live in Africa and that agriculture is essential to both the transformation of rural areas, where more than 70% of the continent’s population resides, and the diversification of economies.

“It is clear therefore that unless we transform agriculture, Africa cannot eliminate poverty,” he insisted.

Africa, according to Adesina, possesses 65 percent of the world’s remaining arable land that may be used to feed 9.5 billion people by the year 2050. Thus, the future of food in the globe will depend on what Africa accomplishes with its agricultural sector.

“Essentially, food is money. The size of the food and agriculture market in Africa will reach $1 trillion by 2030,” he said.

Published on July 15, 2024, By Destiny.jnr