GRIM statistics of Nigerias precarious position highlighted during the recent World Food Day point to a looming food crisis that requires urgent measures to avert. Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Akinwunmi Adesina, lamented that Nigeria imported N2.4 trillion worth of food each year between 2007 and 2010. He said that in 2010, the country imported N632 billion wheat, N356 billion rice, N217 billion sugar and N97 billion fish. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, put average annual imports of agricultural products at $4.2 billion. Of this, he estimates that about $1 billion is spent on the importation of parboiled rice alone. The World Food Programme has also warned of an impending global food crisis, which it calls "a silent tsunami", resulting from adverse climate change, market forces and poor harvests. It says food prices have risen by an average 83 per cent over the last three years, with persistent hunger affecting 854 million people worldwide. The World Bank says the global food crisis has pushed additional 44 million people into extreme poverty since June. In January this year, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, a United Nations agency, identified Nigeria as one of four countries that are in danger of an imminent food crisis. Reviewing the world food situation, FAO said global average prices of basic food items such as maize, rice, sugar, wheat, meat and dairy products soared by 25 per cent in 2010 above the 2009 levels. Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, another UN agency, said in August this year, that Nigeria was one of five countries identified as "very vulnerable" in food security. He warned that "if a country is highly dependent on food imports, there is no way it can assure the means of feeding its people."The domestic food situation reflects the crisis of development that has defined the nation as one blessed with resources that have not been optimally utilised through misguided government policies. Between 1960 when the country became independent and 1970, agriculture accounted for over 80 per cent of export revenues, employed 75 per cent of the workforce while Nigeria was self-sufficient in food. Of its land mass of 98.3 million hectares, about 74 million hectares is arable, providing comparative advantage in the cultivation of cassava, maize, palm trees, rice, yams, groundnuts, sorghum and millet. Livestock is also ubiquitous, but especially viable in the northern states, while the extensive coastline and rivers provided 505.8 million metric tonnes of fish in 2003. Experts blame successive governments at federal and state levels for the neglect of agriculture since the oil boom of the early 1970s that has since condemned the country to overdependence on crude oil exports for external revenues. A report by the United States-based Pulitzer Centre says a legacy of corrupt governance and an economy based primarily on oil exports has left the agriculture sector significantly weakened and millions of Nigerians hungry. Agriculture is still central to the economy, accounting for over 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, 60 per cent of employment and is largely carried on in the rural areas which host over 65 per cent of the population. Oil today provides 90 per cent of external revenues but generates only 4 per cent of total employment. Action Aid, an NGO, declared that Nigeria was not prepared for the looming food crisis. The reason is simple: About 90 per cent of Nigerias output comes from inefficient small farms worked by farmers using basic implements and who lack access to irrigation and fertiliser. The CBN Governor says only 11 per cent of the fraud-ridden N22 billion annual federal fertiliser stocks reach the farmers. In countries with responsible government, food is taken for granted. The World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, warned recently that 33 nations, including Nigeria, are at risk of social unrest because of the rising prices of food. He said for countries where food comprised of half to three-quarters of expenditure, there was no margin for survival. The poorest fifth of households in the United States spend only 16 per cent of their budget on food. Most Nigerian families spend 73 per cent of their budgets on food, a report says. The situation demands urgency. There should be concerted efforts to reverse the dangerous dependency on food imports by massive investment in agriculture to be led by the private sector. The federal authorities should review all its failed agricultural programmes and partner more constructively with international development agencies to develop rural roads, storage facilities, provide low-interest credit, extension services and grazing reserves to halt the dependence on food imports and return Nigeria to its position as a major exporter of agricultural products. Government should assist farmers in employing new methods to raise crop yields. The government must get more serious, by reviewing upward, the miserable three per cent of its annual budget that it spends on agriculture. It should also take a look at the CBNs suggestion that it overhaul the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation to allow private sector participation. There should be strong collaborative efforts by all levels of government, small enterprises, lenders and aid agencies to support massive investment in small-scale food production. This should involve investment in rural infrastructure such as access roads, storage silos, cold rooms, transportation, electricity, education and health. Apart from prioritising storage, easing laws that inhibit private sector investment, promoting rice, wheat, maize and cassava yields, the Federal Government should revitalise its 11 river basin development authorities through concessions to reputable international firms.
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