By Samuel
…Plays Down Reports of Looming Food Crisis
The Federal Government on Wednesday attributed the continuous rise in food prices to bulk purchases by organisations as COVID-19 palliatives.
Vice President of the National Food Security Council and Governor Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, revealed this after the Council’s meeting at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, the spiraling cost of food was as a result of the speedy response to cushion the effects of the pandemic.
“The CACOVID was buying food items for the coronavirus pandemic response in bulk at a peak of the beginning of the season, at a time when demands are not high. So, it contributed to the high cost.
“The global lockdown also contributed because of the lack of movement of food items. But now, harvests are coming in and it is good.
“Yes, there are some states that experienced huge draught but that has been overcome by the food coming from elsewhere,” he explained.
The Council’s VP, however, assured of lesser food prices in the coming months.
He said that he was certain that the prices would drop soon, considering the fact that food items are now being moved easily across states.
In his words: “Yes, I said food prices for crops have started coming down. That was from data collated and made available to me in my state and from a pre-meeting with all the commodity associations and farmer groups prior to the National Food Security Council meeting.
“I have been going around my state in the last one week and have seen further drops in prices and it makes sense and is self-explanatory. Harvest is coming in; harvests of millets, maize, and of rice.
“Yes, we had a lot of devastating floods that affected the rice crop but again, there is upland rice that is being harvested that has not been affected by flood.”
Meanwhile, the Council has also assured that there would be no impending food crisis, despite the ravaging floods in parts of the country.
Bagudu noted that despite the floods, the country was blessed with a good ecosystem that would enable farmers to kick start planting.
He added there would be no food insufficiency as the stakeholders as concerned with ways to hasten up another planting process.
“So, what is important is for us to mobilise and ensure we time properly and is part of the reason Mr. President has been working very hard because that is what bothers him most, how to deliver to Nigerians.
“That is why since last week and a week earlier, the challenge has been ‘come up with how we can intervene so that farmers, fishermen and those in husbandry can resume economic activities as quickly as possible,” he said.