Tag: FOOD SECURITY

Food Production: “We made progress shutting borders” – Buhari

Aminu Imam

…Africa to lose $11bn to Russia-Ukraine war ? Adesina President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, rationalised the closure of Nigerian borders, saying that progress was made through the action, which according to him was to encourage local food production. Recall that the President ordered the closure of the country’s land borders in August 2019 to crack down on smuggling. Four of the borders were re-opened in 2020, including the Seme border, in the South-West region; Maigatari and Illela borders, in the North-West, and Mfun borders, in the South-South. Four more were ordered…

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Nigerian Youth group demands explanation from Buhari on hunger crisis

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Youth Congress, (NYC), has demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari come out and explain to Nigerians why hunger in the country is increasing. The group said Nigerians are presently unhappy with the president because, according to them, the prices of food items are increasing every day. The Director of Youth Sensitisation and Rehabilitation Affairs of the Congress, Lucky Udu, who made the statement in a video released on social media, also urged market sellers and buyers to express their frustration. He added that, “A bag of pure water used…

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‘Tackle insecurity, invest in food security’ – U.S charges FG

Aminu Imam

The United States (U.S) Department of Agriculture /Foreign Agricultural Services in Nigeria, under the Agriculture Desk of the US Consulate in Lagos and the Nigerian- American Chamber OF Commerce (NACC), has charged the Federal Government to tackle insecurity head-on and invest more in food security. The Counsellor for Agriculture Affairs (U.S Consulate in Lagos), Gerald Smith, made this known recently in Lagos, during a Breakfast Meeting between the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, (NACC), and the Consulate on ‘US Mission’s Agric-Focused Activities in Nigeria’. According to him, insecurity is hampering agricultural…

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FAO predicts 19.4m Nigerians to face food insecurity from June to August

Aminu Imam

The Food and Agriculture Organisation, (FAO), has confirmed that no fewer than 19.4 million Nigerians may face acute food and nutrition insecurity between June and August. Food Security Analyst, Jasper Mwesigwa, made this known yesterday, in Abuja, at the ‘Nigeria Cadre Harmonise-Acute Food and Nutrition Insecurity Analysis’ programme. Mwesigwa said that currently, about 14.4 million Nigerians, including 385,000 IDPs in 21 States and the FCT were facing a food crisis presently. He listed the states as Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kano, Bauchi, Enugu, Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa, Gombe,…

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Nigeria should expect food scarcity by June – Dangote

Aminu Imam

The Chairman, Chief Executive of Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, has said that Nigeria should expect an outbreak of food scarcity in the next 3 months as adverse consequences of the Russian-Ukraine war begin to manifest. According to the business mogul, the war impact, which has begun with the sporadic rise in wheat pricing, may soon spread to other foods, including maize and other components of input for industrial food production, triggering low production and low supply. With Russia and Ukraine controlling about 30 percent of the world’s urea…

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Food crisis to worsen as terrorists kill, kidnap 352 farmers in 12 months

Aminu Imam

The lingering food crisis in some parts of Nigeria may worsen and spread to more States in 2022 as the country loses more farmers to the gruesome activities of bandits and insurgents, reports have indicated. According to a recent tally, no fewer than 352 farmers have been killed and kidnapped in 12 months amid the rising insecurity in Nigeria. The 352 comprised 216 killed farmers and 136 kidnapped farmers. The figures were obtained from the Nigeria Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa, as well as…

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$10bn annual food import bill is new threat to Nigeria’s economic recovery – Report

Aminu Imam

Nigeria’s fledging economic recovery is facing a new threat after it emerged that the nation may spend a staggering $10bn this year to cover food importation at a time of an acute foreign exchange shortage, according to an investigative report. According to the report, by as of July this year, Nigeria had expended $5.4billion on food importation. This development, according to experts, is a rising indulgence for a nation that has suffered two economic contractions in five years and which hitherto kept its food import bill well within a healthier…

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Famine looms, as Kano rice farmers face poor harvest

Aminu Imam

…Says drought affects early farming As Kano State and its counterparts in the North continue to look forward to continuous rainfall, farmers have been recording poor crop harvests especially of rice and other grains, which rely on water for bumper yields. Rice, which requires consistent water supply, has been left without the usual daily rainfalls for several weeks and the plants are drying out. In areas where the farms are located close to water sources such as rivers, ponds and boreholes, farmers have adopted these water sources to irrigate their…

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Nigerians hurting, as food inflation exceeds global record – UN 

Aminu Imam

A United Nations (UN) report has revealed that global food prices have declined a second consecutive time in July 2021. In the report, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) price index, which tracks changes in international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, recorded 123 points for July 2021, shedding 1.2 percent of June’s numbers. This global drop, it is reported, mainly came from activities that revolve around the production and supply of essential household food items like cereals, vegetable oils and dairy products. Reduction in the price of…

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Threatened by Climate Change, Food Scarcity, Flooding Endanger Communities

Aminu Imam

Khadijah Ishaq Bawas Nigeria and the rest of the world face a huge existential challenge occasioned by the effect of climate change, bringing about desertification, gully erosion, health challenges and draught with an attended food shortage that brings about forced migration, a major breeding condition for insecurity. Climate Change experts have warned that if urgent mitigation steps are not taken to reduce the volume of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere, the world as we know it will be completely destroyed in a matter of decades due to its catastrophic impact.…

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