l :Z-SATURDAYVanguard.. OCTOBER 2 0. :ZOl 2
Saturday Cover By e BUN SESSO U ltbOUgb Nigerians have been assured that the country wt11 not be plunged Into food au ... The Mimster 01 Agnculture and Rural Development. Dr AtIDwuml Adeslna, made thiS declaration But the receding inflation WIllS Interrupted by the IRunediate impllct of the Hood which saw food pnces rose to 1.1 per cent between August and September thiS year The impact of the flooeling in some parts of the country iL1d the attendant destruction of farmland is alrt;ii~i' becoming eVident 1115 recent data from the Nahona) Bureau of Statistics shows marked Increase In ionlltion which jumped to 10.2 per cent in September 2012, compared to 9.9 per ceDt in August The data shows tbat the riSe In the Food Indes: was mamly due to higher food pnces In vanous classes led by potatoes. yams and other tubers, fruits, beans, bread and cereals (mcluding nee) as well 1115 other foods . AccordJng to the bureau, the higher food prices reHected partially the Impact of the Hoods on the production of certain crops as well as movement of food products to markets across the country Saturday Vanguard gathered that. due to the effect of flood on some of tbe farmlands across the country, there IS no doubt that Nlgenans will not eapenence lood shortage before the end of the year Pnnee Wale Oyekoya. Head of AgricuJture Group of Lagos Chambers of Commerce lamented tbat the ugly poLioes of the government at all levels have continued to aHect agriculture negauvely According to him , "The people that are loto agriculture profession are those who have retired from their various ciVil service and unfortunately, the environment IS not favourable In terms of capita) lDvestment . You must have enough capital to go into agriculture in thts country Right now. t.he inconsistent policy of the government has rumed the system. "Recently, the PreSIdent of this country. Dr Ebele Jonathan Instructed the Malawi government to be Importing flce Into the count ry And what this means 15 that the local Iannelli 10 this country do not havE' thE' ability to producf"
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11'Ie SlIme government that propost"d thE' ban 01 Importation o f nef' into thf' country. IS the "illme that IS
Tough times await Nigerians as food scarcity looms Experts " "In most of the markets in Nigeria, there is increase in prices of foodstuffs. Now vegetables and fruits in the markets are costly. In Lagos, an orange ranges between N20 and N50
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inVlting another country to unport rice into Nigeria The truth is that the leadership of Nigeria Is not encouraging agricultural lector MMOlt of the mornes that are supposed to be spent on real farmers have been Ihlfted to the polttical farmers Most of the funds have been Ihifted to the politteal farmers . It is only to this country that farming Is done on teleViSion "For IOltance, there wal a N200 billion intervention fund that the federal government was able to releAJe to the commercial farmers , which I chaUenged the C BN governor and the mlnlter of agllculture on And both of them admUted that no real farmer has benefited from the fundI 'You cannot have accesl to any loan In lomt" of tht"
comme:rcial banks because the lundl have been erltausted "Right now, agriculture loan il on 30 percent In any commercial bank While the policy 11 not communicated to the commercial bank and tlus 11 what I caUed m-conslStence of our government. TIlere have been 10 many lies and deceit by the government and I believe it is t.M responsibility of the government to rue up to the challenge. if not this country will go angry And the looming food crisis II Immment Min mOlt of the markets to Nlgena. there IS IOcrease lD pucel of foodstuffl Now vegetables and frUits In the markets are cosliy. In Lagos. an orange cost between N20 and N50 Most of the agTlculture sector In the country have been taken over by thf' foreigners tocludl1lg the Lebanese. Indian, IlTaeJ.1 ~Corr\lptlon has E'aten d~p IOtO the fabncs of the nation
It II a way of taking our foreign reserves out of the country There is huge disconneclton between the Federal Government and real farmers . Central Bank of Nigeria cannot regulate commf'rCial banks
A. sited if agnculturuts in .t-\t he country have access to loans or fundI through cooperative IOOety, he said, cooperative society in this country is not wormg There are local and Indigenous farmers that are capable of handling agricuJtull'! projects in this country but the Nigenan polter has It.illed all of them Most of the people m the rural areM that pracbce subsIStence famung have rued natural death Over, 90 pe.rce.nt of farmers m lagos State have IRvested mto bvestoclt farming, thiS LS due to the unfavourable condllions IR the country The envuonment IS not condUCive because there IS no funds for farmers There 15 no adequate
infrastructure to mosl of the "'umlands in thll country Another thing is that any money that is earmlllited for farmers does not come d.lrect1y tothem Itwilltirstgothrough the State government. the COmmlilioners and the Clvtl servants before it gets to the real fanners The government lrnow the real farmHS but they are not ready 10 recognise them Goftmment IS only concerned on what would benefit them and WlfortWlately, none of the commerdallanners can give them what they want Thete are senes of challenges that the fanners es:perience on a dtuly basIS . The fact that they are not given the free hand to worlt Failure by the government to give the farmers C of 0 of their lands MOlt bUSiness owners have been relocaung to Ghana If money 11 properly channeled to agnculture, there will not be problem of any It.ind With what is happemng in other patU of Nlgena especially lD the North, It 15 Immment that there will be food Icarcity by December and January because there UI 110 storage faci.1lty
1will Mvae that government should go \Rto irngatlon practae dunng dry leason I am expecting the government to In\'est mto LTngatlon so that there won't bt" shortagt" of food Right now, there WIll be food scarCity heral!."e Wf' Ilf"\'f'f prl'pnred for any t>mergency 11\ thIS country