Agriculturists decry Food Inflation, Call for Urgent Intervention

Some agriculturists in Nigeria lamented the consistent increase in the prices of essential food items in the country and called for urgent intervention by the federal government to stem the tide.

The experts made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos.

The co-founder Corporate Farmers International and agricultural consultant, Mr Akin Alabi, reiterated the need for urgent intervention by the federal government to forestall more protests over food inflation across the country.

“The federal government needs to take the bull by the horns in the fight against food inflation.

“There is an urgent need to curb food insecurity. We need to stop all taxes on food coming into the country.

“At this stage, the government should call an emergency stakeholders meeting to tackle food inflation.

“The committee should be able to look for avenues to cut down on all excessive taxes on food locally grown or imported,” said Alabi.

He also restated the need to increase agricultural production in the country.

“We need to also increase local agricultural production. All state governments should be taxed to increase agricultural production in their states.

“We have enough arable land. More farmlands should be provided to boost crop production.

“The government has to be intentional about achieving food security in the country,” he added.

On his part, Mr Chuba Chukwuka, a greenhouse farmer, called for increased productivity and value addition to curb food inflation in the country.

“The major problem is that we are not producing enough agro-produce in the country. If we are, there will be no food inflation.

“Even when we produce, they perish easily because we have poor storage systems and rarely add value to our agro-produce.

“With good storage and value addition across the agricultural sector, food inflation will not be this high or consistent.

“A lot of farmers sell below cost at harvest and post harvest; they barely have enough produce to meet the growing demand.

“If they can get storage and value addition right, it will help tackle food inflation,” Chukwuka said.

Mr Uche Ikenga, a crop farmer, also called for a quick intervention to quell the situation.

“The food inflation is biting harder; there is low purchasing power in the society even if food is available.

“The consumers do not have the money to buy. Even as farmers, when we sell, we do not have enough money to take care of our other needs.

“We do not live only on food. We live on the general economy. Food inflation is an issue, and as it is, we presently do not have enough stock.

“This is a systemic issue, and prices are soaring. We need quick intervention. The money from the subsidy removal should be used to help the sector.

“The government has promised palliatives, but we are yet to receive anything.

“Even as we prepare for the farming season, the prices of inputs have also gone up,” Ikenga said.

 

 

NAN/Shakirat Sadiq