The Federal Government has said the deepening security crisis that plagues the country has not affected the country’s food production much.
Mohammad Abubakar, minister of agriculture, who made this known on Thursday in Abuja during the state house ministerial briefing, said the country still produces enough food to meet local consumption and demand amid widespread insecurity.
He expressed worry that attacks by herders and terrorists have denied some farmers the opportunity to go to their farms, especially in the north-west and north-central regions of the country.
However, he, maintained that food production has continued at a substantial level in most parts of the country.
“It is a concern for the government but if you notice, despite that, production has not dropped to any significant level,” the minister said.
“That is one of the reasons why we have an arrangement for security agents known as Agro-Rangers, who are providing some measures of security so that the farmers will be able to access their farms.
“Truly, if they cannot completely access farms all over the country, you will expect a drop in production but right now we are doing everything possible to make sure both production is maintained through that security provision.”
Abubakar also assured that the government was working hard to address the rising prices of food items in the country.
He said the current increase in food prices is not peculiar to Nigeria, adding that the emergence of COVID-19 and the ongoing war in Ukraine has aggravated the situation.
“When COVID came, it affected a lot of things including food production and the after effect of that is what we are still facing and that will lag for some time before it is stabilised. I believe the price of rice has dropped a little bit and we are still working on it,” he said.
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