There Will Be No Food Shortage in 2023 – Agency

The National Agricultural Lands Development Authority (NALDA) declared that there will be no food shortage in the country while assuring Nigerians that they would not go hungry in 2023.

This was disclosed by Prince Paul Ikonne, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, NALDA, during a media briefing of President Muhammadu Buhari’s unveiling of landmark achievements by NALDA within two years in Abuja.

In his words, “I will assure you that Nigeria will not have any food shortage and I will break it down. In 2023, there will not be any food shortage. So any prediction in that direction is doom prediction. Why? Because awareness is being created towards going into farming, and this Government of President Muhammadu Buhari is encouraging farmers in all aspects. Now, the youth are tilting towards farming. A lot of people are going into farming. So why would we have food shortage, is it as a result of laziness or climate change? Now if climate change is beyond human capacity but by virtue of provision, support and encouragement that can come from the government to encourage people to go into farming. This Government is providing it to farmers. NALDA is positioned to support farmers with land preparation, capacity building and support to see that we achieve food security. So I don’t see Nigeria going hungry in 2023. You will agree with me that the President was already prepared not knowing that there will be something called COVID-19, and Nigeria did not go cap in hand; first of all short our borders, and yet people did not suffer hunger. And then COVID-19 came Nigeria did not collapse. And we don’t pray that there will be another global pandemic that will strike but outside that 2023 will be a more fruitful year for Nigeria.”

He further noted that there is no cause for alarm based on what people and organizations have over and predicted that full blown hunger will hit Nigeria in 2023.

Also, he said under NALDA integrated farms across the country, enough food has been harvested and still ongoing.

“Across the country, like in our Solide farm, we have harvested, and is still going on, and we have taken delivery of 200 bags of sorghum from that farm alone. We have goat pens and farms across even in Kaduna, and the Kaduna farm is selling their goats now, the Daura farm is also about selling their goats because this is the festival period for them to begin to get money so the farmers can have returns into their pockets. The 20 people were sent to Israel for training, they have gone and they are back and integrated. Then we are preparing another set of people that will also now move for capacity building, knowing fully well that capacity building is key to what we are doing,” Ikonne said.

Agro Nigeria