Nigerian farmers have decried government’s poor response to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural production as food crisis looms across the country.
Describing government poor response so far to mitigate an obvious food shortage, stakeholders fear Nigerians who are already looking for a way to survive the impact of the coronavirus on the economy may soon be faced with food crisis, as food shortage gradually creeps in.
The government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently flagged off the distribution of agricultural inputs to Nigerian farmers as mitigate effects of the pandemic and boost agricultural production, and avert food scarcity in 2021.
BusinessDay findings however reveal that the programme may not yield the desired result as farmers deny receiving government’s palliative.
Daniel Okafor, vice national chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), speaking with BusinessDay, notes that Nigeria may not be able to escape food shortage as farmers are still struggling to meet up with the farming season, which is at its peak already.
Okafor, expressing disappointment, describes the programme of the government that targets distribution of seeds and other farm inputs to farmers as “’just another propaganda,’ as the items that are being shared are too small, and most farmers have not received anything.
“What the government is doing is bad; we are already at the peak of farming season, and most farmers are yet to even begin farming. Farmers need support.
“The palliative they say they are sharing are all lies. We are at the rural areas; we are yet to see anything from them.
“We will soon have a huge problem arising from food shortage; we will soon begin to see people dying of hunger than the pandemic itself.”
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers in Kano, Kaduna, Oyo and Kogi states have benefitted from the programme.
“The programme is a distribution of variety of improved seeds and seedlings of yam, maize, oil palm, cocoa, sorghum, millet, cowpea, rice and kenaf, among others to the beneficiaries nationwide.
“Rice seeds worth about 270 metric tons and 300 metric tons each of certified seeds of FARO 66, 300 metric tons of foundation seeds of flood tolerant rice varieties of FARO 66 and FARO 67, respectively, through the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria.
“26 metric tons of certified wheat seeds to wheat farmers, 1350 maize production kits, 18,517kg of Aflasafe to ensure that the maize produced is aflatoxin-free.
“20 metric tons of breeder seeds of the same varieties to 14 selected seed companies that have the capacity to produce foundation seed.
“66,000 sprouted nuts of palm oil to farmers in Kogi, Nasarawa and Kaduna states. These seeds are free of charge to the beneficiaries while other farm inputs like water pumps, irrigation kits, seed planter, among others, would be given out at 75 percent subsidy,” the ministry stated.
Yamada Samuel, Kogi State chairman, Potato Farmers Association, relating his experience to BusinessDay, faulted the programme, stating that only few numbers of farmers were given few seeds and stems without fertilizers or complementary input.
“I was among those that received the palliative; I’m really ashamed of this government. I’m a potato farmer; I was given 10 bundles of potato stems without fertilizer or anything else to complement it.
“With the way the government is going, there may be food shortage this year. Farmers need support, and I’m not sure the government is ready to offer the amount of support needed at this time,” Samuel said.
Mary Afan, president, Smallholder Women Farmers Organisation, said the women registered under the organisation were yet to receive the palliative as promised by the government.
She said the association had devised means of distributing farm inputs to members as planting season was already at its peak.
Simon Irytwange, president, National Association of Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketer, also confirmed to BusinessDay that the association was yet to receive the palliative and support from the government.
