The minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, has stated that Nigeria has enough food to feed all its citizens despite the rising costs and predictions of scarcity of food items in the country.

Abubakar attributed the increase in prices of basic food items to inflation and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, while presenting the ministry's scorecard for 2015-2023 on Monday in Abuja.

"We have enough food to take care of Nigerians. We are producing food across the country and we will continue to do so to feed Nigerians in line with our mandate and expedite the transformation of the rural communities of Nigeria," said Abubakar.

He added that many countries were forced to shut down key economic activities for many months, which had a ripple effect on other nations as well.

Abubakar blamed the rise in fertilizer prices on inflation and the inability of producers of source raw materials to keep up with demand due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.

The minister also announced that the ministry had managed to increase food, fish, and animal production, as well as improve the capacity of food storage facilities to hold more produce for Nigerians in case of emergency.

He added that the ministry was currently working to improve food stock in the country by constructing 10 large-scale integrated rice mills with 320 metric tonnes capacity per day in Jigawa, Kano, Adamawa, Niger, Kaduna, Gombe, Ekiti, Ogun, Bayelsa, and the Federal Capital Territory.

The presidential fertilizer initiative, which was launched in 2016, has also increased the number of fertilizer plants and raised production levels.

Between 2020 and 2021, the ministry also acquired 79,277.30 metric tonnes of food commodities to restock the national strategic reserve, which became depleted during COVID-19.

He noted that the ministry was constructing two 2000 metric tonnes specialized warehouses for the storage of food commodities at federal government-retained silo complexes in Irrua, Edo State, and Ilesha, Osun State, and added the federal government had begun moves to put an end to such conflicts, though was unsure if pastoralists were intentionally unleashing their cattle.

The minister's comments come amid predictions that food shortage might occur following a recent flood in some parts of the country, which affected farmlands and crops.

Farming picture
UNSPLASH