In order to address concerns about food security, stabilize prices, and provide financial liquidity for farmers in the agricultural sector, the Federal Government of Nigeria is vigorously pursuing a strategy to build up its Strategic Food Reserve.
The gesture, according to the government, would allow farmers to engage in year-round cultivation, particularly during the dry season.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, provided the assurance during a working visit of various facilities in Kaduna with the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Aliyu, along with other stakeholders, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday.
The visit took place outside of the National Council on Agriculture and Food Security’s 47th Regular Meeting.
In response to farmers’ concerns that food prices would plummet nationwide despite an increase in input costs, he reassured them that the government was prepared to meet the challenge.
Farmers visit the same marketplaces and profit from lower prices, despite their concerns about a food price collapse.
The cost of inputs is also a challenge for farmers.
Bola Tinubu, the president, is addressing that. We will address the cost of inputs and strike a balance between the wellbeing of citizens and farmers.
“Very soon, we are also going to stock up strategic reserves, which will give the agricultural sector a lot of financial liquidity for farmers to be able to go into all-year farming, especially in the dry season,” he stated.
The minister expressed satisfaction with the strong level of public interest in food production and raw material processing, among other things, after evaluating the operation of a few firms he visited.
He claims that farmers and processors have responded to President Tinubu’s clear demand about food security and food sovereignty.
“It is clear that what you see on the field is almost in line with the renewal hope agenda of Mr. President,” he stated.
Olam Agri, TMDK Agro Park, DEBRANCH Farmers, Quality Afriexim Bank Quality Assurance Office, and Tomato Jos are a few of the factories that were visited, according to NAN.
He claims that the quality assurance office aims to certify Nigerian goods for both home and international markets.
According to Mehta, the company’s primary goal is “local production for local consumption,” which aims to develop a middle class in rural Nigeria by giving farmers a steady market and turning their food into premium paste.
She emphasized that the company has the third-largest tomato processing facility in Nigeria, a cutting-edge facility in Kaduna State.
We collaborate with more than 350 partner farmers, offering them assistance, cutting-edge agricultural methods, and a certain market for their produce.
Tomato Jos seeks to both directly and indirectly create jobs while lowering Nigeria’s dependency on imported tomato products.
She stated, “Among other things, it has created hundreds of jobs in the construction of its factory.”
Mehta expressed disapproval of the importation of tomato paste from China, claiming it was harmful to the nation’s economy.
She added that women make up 60% of farmers and that the organization has committed more than $20 million in empowering the public.
Mehta added that Tomato Jos has made infrastructure investments as well.
She claims that the organization has currently cleared more than 300 hectares of irrigated land in order to grow tomatoes throughout the dry season.
The market, imports of tomato paste, regulations, inputs like fertilizer and other chemicals, and Tuta Absoluta, a significant tomato pest, are just a few of the difficulties facing the sector, according to the CEO.
But in order to guarantee that the illness would no longer flourish in the nation, she urged the Federal Government to establish a unified, prompt reaction.
The CEO also bemoaned the company’s difficulties in selling its finished goods.
However, she asked the government and food packaging firms to collaborate so that she might represent their grains and mop up their products.
