The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, says food prices across Nigeria have dropped as a result of President Bola Tinubu’s emergency measures on food security.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Friday, September 12, Kyari noted that President Tinubu inherited a challenging situation in 2023, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency on food security. He described the move as a “clarion call” to save the sector from collapse.
“President Tinubu assumed office at a time when the nation faced serious structural challenges in food production. That was why he declared the emergency on food security in July 2023. The goal was to boost local production while allowing temporary imports to bridge the supply gap,” Kyari explained.
He cited rice as an example, revealing that the country has about a 15% deficit between demand and supply. According to him, the six-month importation window introduced by the government was never intended to discourage local farmers but rather to stabilise the market.
“The importation window has closed, but it served its purpose. It wasn’t large enough to threaten local production. At the same time, we supported farmers with various interventions, including fertiliser distribution,” he added.
Kyari highlighted that the Central Bank, on the president’s directive, released 2 million bags of fertiliser to the ministry for free distribution to farmers, alongside additional programmes that provided fertilisers at subsidised rates. He maintained that these measures significantly boosted production in 2024.
“With all these interventions, I can confidently say food prices have come down,” the minister declared.
