The Federal Government’s plan to open the country’s borders to the import of food has alarmed experts who fear it will have an impact on private investments in the agriculture industry.
A 150-day duty-free import window for goods like cowpeas, wheat, husked brown rice, and maize was disclosed by Abubakar Kyari, the minister of agriculture and food security, at a press conference in Abuja last Monday. This is a part of the implementation of the recently introduced Presidential Accelerated Stabilization and Advancement Plan.
Price controls will apply to goods imported within the 150-day duty-free import window, the minister said.
In addition, Kyari stated that President Bola Tinubu was dedicated to achieving food security and “ensuring that no Nigerian goes to bed hungry,” even if he acknowledged that Nigeria was confronting “a critical food security challenge.” In order to achieve this, I can guarantee all Nigerians that my team and I will work quickly and carefully to put these important policies into effect in order to guarantee food security for all citizens in the short term. At the same time, we will keep up our long-term intervention strategies in order to address the root causes and guarantee resilient and sustainable food systems in the nation.
Akinwunmi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank Group, said that the strategy was “depressing” despite its noble intentions.
Adesina made these remarks to African Primates of the Anglican Church during a retreat in Abuja, according to a statement posted on the bank’s website on Saturday. “It is depressing that Nigeria has recently announced that it will be opening its borders to massive food imports in order to address short-term price hikes,” the man remarked.
Former Nigerian minister of agriculture Adesina issued a warning, stating that the strategy would undo all the labor-intensive work and private investments that Nigeria’s agriculture sector has received.
“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, which will further help stabilise the naira.
“Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity. Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation,” he declared.
Adesina stated that Nigeria “must feed itself with pride” and cautioned that “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name” during his speech on the topic of “Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church.”
Adesina stated that Africa has 65% of the world’s remaining arable land that could be farmed to feed 9.5 billion people by the year 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 $1tn by 2030,” he said.
While applauding the FG’s action in its weekly economic update, Afrinvest estimated that the protectionist approach to improving food self-sufficiency might not be the best option given the lack of agronomic and infrastructural groundwork to increase domestic supply.
“Hence, adopting this stance without addressing gaps in the domestic agriculture value-chain might deliver a weak outcome, as the past years have demonstrated. We opine the 150-day window could be extended for more impactful results.”
Additionally, Afrinvest analysts argued that the ongoing food crisis was largely caused by instability throughout the agrarian belt.
“Over the years, states such as Benue, Nasarawa, and other regions in Northeastern and Northwestern Nigeria, traditionally key agricultural areas, have become increasingly unsafe due to the activities of bandits and terrorists. Farmers in these regions face extortion, with bandits demanding taxes before farming and at harvest time.
“For instance, SB Morgen Intelligence estimated that farmers in Northern Nigeria paid N139.5m in the last four years to bandits as a levy. As a result of this, farmers are forced to incorporate these additional costs into the prices of their produce, thereby leading to increased food prices in the market and aiding food availability and affordability concerns.”
The company claims that 11 states in Northern Nigeria are negatively impacted by the severe effects of desertification brought on by climate change on the survival of food and livestock.
“This environmental challenge is evident in the agricultural sector, where farmers have lost farmlands to encroaching dunes and face inadequate water supply due to shrinking water sources. These conditions have a profound negative impact on farming, further exacerbating the difficulties faced by the agricultural community in maintaining productivity and food security.
“While we agree that the Federal Government’s attempt to improve self-sufficiency is well intended, and, if successful, will save the country a significant amount of FX ($2.1bn was spent on food importation in 2023), we believe that it is crucial to adopt a more systematic approach that prioritises laying a solid groundwork first. This includes addressing key challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, insecurity, and support for local farmers to ensure sustainable agricultural development and long-term food security.”
The Federal Government’s recent order to suspend taxes on imported food items is not a long-term solution to the nation’s food insecurity, according to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
Kabir Ibrahim, the National President of AFAN, revealed over the phone.
According to the president of AFAN, providing farmers with subsidies on all imports would be the only way to assure a permanent solution and increase national output.
“We will patiently wait for the (suspension of import duty) to happen, but it is not sustainable. The sustainable solution is to ensure that farmers are given subsidies on all imports so that they will fill up productivity in the country and have a sustainable food system. Importing anything will not give you sustainable food security,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim praised the government’s strategy nonetheless, claiming it to be the industry norm.
“If the importation was for five months of 500 metric tonnes, then that is acceptable because this is a strategic way of getting out of a difficult situation that is acceptable to the world,” the AFAN boss said.
The FG’s plan, known as PASAP, is bringing duty-free imports into the country for the next six months, with a focus on the energy/power, health, and agricultural sectors.
