Competitiveness key to food security

The Managing Director, USAID (Nigeria)-funded Maximising Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites project, Mr. Timothy Prewitt, has said agricultural competitiveness remains central to food security in Nigeria. Prewitt said this during a press briefing held at the American Embassy, Abuja, on Wednesday under the theme, "Food Security and Nigeria 2005 to 2010."He explained that the concept of food security was involved its availability and affordability by the citizens. He noted that in spite of the huge potential, Nigeria sadly ranked second only to the Philippines as the Worlds highest importer of rice. The managing director also noted that Nigeria imported about 160,000 metric tons of starch, which could be produced locally from cassava annually.Prewitt further explained that MARKETS which had partnered with Nigerian farmers over the years, had increased its competitiveness through access to loans and improved farming methods. He said "Thirty-three thousand Nigerian farmers have been trained to see farming as a business. "We start from what the market requires, what is in demand then we assist farmers grow crops to meet this demand." A document made available to reporters at the event introduced a sequel to the MARKETS project called Bridge to Markets two. According to the document, "BtM2 is a 16-month project designed to maintain the momentum created under the private sector-led, USAID-funded MARKETS programme, to strengthen agricultural competiveness and food security in Nigeria." The programme also provides integrated income generation, homestead gardening, and nutrition training to chronically food insecure households to enable them improves their economic opportunities and access to food.
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