The Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to fix prices of food items across the country.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, during a brief with newsmen in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister hinted that the Nigerian government is aiming at projects and initiatives to reduce the rising cost of food items in the country.
Kyari noted that the government has registered farmers for summer farming through the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and AgroPocket (NAGS-AP).
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According to the Minister, 120,000 hectares of wheat have been cultivated in Jigawa state alone under the African Development Bank (AfDB) 50% free agriculture scheme.
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He said: “Over 150,000 hectares would be farmed under the rice, maize, and crops program where approximately 300,000 farmers would be added while world Non-profit organizations would provide funds to lower prices.”
The minister stated that foreign food exports would be listed on national borders to stop illegal migrants, stressing that exporting food benefits Nigeria but is harmful when the government does not benefit from it.
According to the report by ThisDay, the ministry has also ordered the distribution of 42,000 tonnes of grains to low-income individuals to reduce the challenges of rising food prices and shortages.
According to the Minister, agriculture will be balanced to increase food production and post-harvest losses will be reduced. This development comes as rising inflation increases the prices of goods and services across the country.
The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that the country’s headline inflation rate in January 2024 was 29.90%. NBS said food inflation contributed more than 30% to the overall inflation statistics. The monthly increase in food inflation was due to higher average price growth rates for potatoes, yams, other tubers, bread, cereals, fish, meat, tobacco, and vegetables.
According to an analysis of the NBS Consumer Price Index report, food, and non-alcoholic beverages were the main drivers of the increase, rising by 15.49%, followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which rose by 5%.
