The Nigeria Governors Forum is pushing for increased crop production that will ensure food security in Nigeria to avert food related crises.
Some members of the forum ha, have therefore, visited the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Abuja to emphasize the urgency of the situation.
The visit was part of the ongoing collaborative efforts between the federal and state governments to ensure smooth implementation of the second phase of the 2023-2024 dry-season farming.
They met the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, and discussed him.
On the delegation were the Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; Taraba State governor, Agbu Kefas; Ondo State governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; and Kogi State governor, Ahmed Ododo.
Governor Abdulrazaq, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, stressed the need for adequate attention paid to achieving food security to ease the harsh living conditions of Nigerians.
He called on the Minister of Agriculture to work hard to meet the food targets of the federal government.
Governor Abdulrazaq assured that the governors of the various states of the federation are ready to work with the ministry to achieve the expected increase in food production.
“We could not achieve much with the CBN Anchor Borrowers program, it was very challenging.
“The issue of food security is a one-stop-shop and we need to concentrate on what we are doing.
“We need to concentrate on what we are doing for the dry season farming.
“The minister has come up with a program on cassava, radicand maize and we want to engage in that program and urgently make sure we improve on our yield and deliver to the Nigerian population.
“We want to get to a stage where we export our food. What we have now is that, because of the devaluation of our naira, Nigeria’s food is being exported to West Africa and is the cheapest in the region today.
“This was because the CBN took over most of what the agricultural ministry used to do. Our trips to the ministry at that time were not fruitful.
“But now we have seen strong engagement and sense from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and that is why we are here today.”
