President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said the decision by Nigerias government to allow massive food importation risks destroying the countrys agriculture.
According to him, this follows the announcement by Nigerias Minister for Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, on July 10, that the Federal Government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the countrys land and sea borders, for 150 days.
Adesina, who stated this while speaking to African Primates of the Anglican Church at a Retreat in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday, said Nigerias recently announced policy(link is external) to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing.
Speaking on the theme: Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church, Adesina said Nigeria must feed itself with pride, warning, a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.
The clergymen assembled in Abuja under the umbrella of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, (CAPA), representing more than 40 million Anglicans across the continent.
He warned that the policy could undermine all the hard work and private investments that have gone into Nigerias agriculture sector. Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilise prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilise food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilise the Naira, said the AfDB president.
Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity. Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation, he emphasised.
In his opening remarks, the host, His Grace the Most Rev. Henry C. Ndukuba, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), said the gathering was a unique opportunity for African Anglican leaders to deepen bonds of friendship and collaboration, and to share collective wisdom and experiences.
Noting that Africa accounts for nearly a third of the more than 780 million people worldwide who are hungry, the AfDB president said agriculture is critical for the diversification of economies, and for the transformation of rural areas, where over 70% of the population of Africa live. It is clear therefore, that unless we transform agriculture, Africa cannot eliminate poverty, he stressed.
Adesina said Africa has 65% of the uncultivated arable land left in the world, to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050. Therefore, what Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world. Essentially, food is money. The size of the food and agriculture market in Africa will reach $1 trillion by 2030, he disclosed.
Adesina briefed the Primates on the Banks $25 billion programme to transform agriculture by providing high performing agricultural technologies for 40 million farmers and making Africa food self-sufficient by 2030.
Adesina urged the Nigerian government to take advantage of the Banks investments and support for African farmers; show greater determination and commitment to achieving food self-sufficiency, and to incentivize private sector agribusinesses.
