By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi.

Nigeria imports about 6 million tonnes of wheat every year which runs into billions of dollars. It is no wonder that the Agric and Food Security Ministry is making concerted efforts towards reducing this bill, and gradually eliminating the huge forex flight that goes to the importation of a commodity we can grow. Last year, it secured a $134 million dollar grant from the AFDB, African Development Bank, to launch the dry season farming initiative of the Federal Govt., under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu renewed hope food security agenda. A 50% discount costing N361,000 naira per hectare was extended to farmers, covering inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides and seeds. An improved variety of grains namely the Borlaug 100 and the Attila which have more than triple the yield of the local variety used was distributed to farmers. This wheat variety also has an inproved rust resistance advantage. About 200,000 farmers were empowered, cultivating about 250,000 hectares of land. Jigawa alone had about 40,000 hectares earmarked and impressively, they were able to cultivate 55,000 hectares of wheat. An output of about 500,000 metric tonnes was realised from the wheat dry season farming alone. 15 states participated in the dry season farming last year, and all the states are in the North.

This year, the dry season farming initiative was launched in Calabar, Cross River State. It is reported that Calabar now harvests more Cocoa than Ondo State and is potentially joining the fray of states regarded as food baskets of the nation. The dry season farming is being driven by the National Agricultural Growth Support Scheme- Agro Pockets (NAGS-AP). Senator Abubakar Kyari, the Hon. Minister of Agric and Food Security, during the launch, said that, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration has placed a high priority on agriculture to drive economic recovery and ensure affordable food access for all Nigerians. In line with this vision, we secured a 134 million dollar loan from the African Development Bank, to boost productivity in key staple crops, including wheat, rice, and maize, for both wet and dry season farming. This year’s dry season farming has earmarked 250,000 wheat farmers, and 150,000 rice farmers who would be provided with subsidized agricultural inputs”. Calabar has proved suitable for wheat farming and the Federal Govt is partnering with the Cross River State Govt. to empower atleast 3000 indigenous farmers in the state, he added. The minister said that, rigorous standards had been set for all stakeholders including agro dealers, and input suppliers. A minimum guarantee price for the crops will be established by the FG, to stabilise farmers incomes and at the same time reduce the over reliance on imports.

While in Calabar, the minister also commissioned the Ultra Modern Fish Hatchery Facility. This state of the art facility is a significant advancement in the country’s aquaculture sub-sector, which would definitely boost revenue generation for farmers. The minister said that the project is a tangible testament of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR’s renewed hope agenda, aimed at transforming our agricultural sector through strategic initiatives that drive economic growth and ensure food security. The hatchery has the capacity of an annual production of 20 million fingerlings and 12 million juveniles. This facility he says, is set to become a vital hub for employment opportunities for youths and women, and a powerhouse for food security. The centre would also provide training and serve as a research facility. The facility was funded by the FG in partnership with IFAD, International Fund For Agricultural Development. A beneficiary of the project, Mr. Henry Okpo, CEO Henoren Farms, said his business was failing until he attended the training programme from the fund. With the fund’s support, he was able to buy more land worth N1.2 million to expand his business and implement the skills he learnt from the training. He says now he has off takers who buy in bulk and guarantee his production. When the extension activity team came to him, he said he expected only funding. But he got more than what money could do for his business, as they taught him how to grow his business.

With the deregulation of the energy sector, it is foolhardy to assume that agricultural products would remain cheap. Processing, transportation, inputs costs and irrigation are factors that contribute to the challenges faced by farmers, by driving up their production costs. While we do not have a food scarcity crisis in our hands, we have an affordability challenge. The solution will come from the govt’s efforts in improving the availability of food items which would effectively drive down prices. Insecurity however, is another challenge that is constricting the agricultural space and making it difficult or near impossible for farmers to ply their trade. It is envisaged that about 10,000 agro rangers would be deployed to these challenged areas to provide security for farmers and farm produce. Such are the challenges the agric sector is facing all at once. This is while discounting the effect of flooding in some key farming states. So far, it is impressive to see projects like the hatchery in Calabar and the dry season initiative being driven by the agric ministry. When projects like these are sustained and are more widespread across the country, certainly the issue of affordability would be a bygone issue. Even at that; at the risk of being a ‘Shanono’, if we compare food prices across the globe to the prices in our homeland, we should thank God for this blessing.