The Federal Government's decision to allow massive food importation may destroy the country’s agriculture sector.
President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who gave the warning at a retreat by the African Primates of the Anglican Church in Abuja, advised the Nigerian government to produce more food and create jobs through agriculture.
It could be recalled that on July 10, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, announced that the Federal Government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders, for 150 days.
Kyari who revealed that the move is to ameliorate food inflation in the country caused by affordability and exacerbated by availability, said the government has taken a raft of measures to be implemented over the next 180 days, adding that imported food commodities under this arrangement will be subjected to a Recommended Retail Price.
The minister had stated that in addition to the importation by the private sector, the federal Government will import 250,000MT of wheat and 250,000MT of maize. The imported food commodities in their semi-processed state will target supplies to the small-scale processors and millers across the country.
Reacting to this plan, in a speech made at the retreat held in Abuja, Adesina, a former agriculture minister, 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 warned that the policy could undermine all the hard work and private investments that had gone into Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
Adesina argued that Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilise prices, rather the country should be producing more food to stabilise food prices while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilise the naira.
“Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity. Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation,” he stated.
Adesina who spoke on the theme, ‘Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church’, said Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning, “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.”
He insisted that“It is clear therefore that unless we transform agriculture, Africa cannot eliminate poverty,” food is money as the size of the food and agriculture market in Africa will reach $1tn by 2030,” Adesina added.
The bank chief stated that the clergymen had assembled in Abuja under the umbrella of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, representing more than 40 million Anglicans across the continent.