Nigeria has spent more than N7.8 trillion in the last six years on food imports despite claims that it is Africa’s food basket.
According to ThisDay, the astounding amount shows that Nigeria’s leadership has not yet set the country on the proper path to eradicate hunger by 2030 as required by the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Compared to the N2 trillion spent on food importation in 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics reports that commercial transactions involving the importation of food totaled over N1.9 trillion in 2022.
The cost of importing food into Nigeria has increased recently. A total of N1.9 trillion worth of food was brought into the country in 2022. In the second quarter of 2022, the value of food imports totaled N464.45 billion, a rise from the value seen in the first quarter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria reported that in a year, Nigeria’s food import cost increased by 45% to $2.71 billion (N1.12 trillion).
According to the National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kabir Ibrahim, the ABP was unsuccessful because it did not focus on the actual farmers.
According to him, “The loans under the CAS were paid back mostly because the participating banks had a commitment with CBN, and they were responsible for collecting repayment. If there is any default, the CBN will collect the loan from the participating banks.”
“For most of the farmers who used their influence to get the ABP loan, there is no way they can pay back,” he continued. “And you know that repayment in agric lending is very difficult unless you carry out the due process before giving out the loan.
He noted that it is going to be abused because the majority of people now eat from the fund and they do not deploy any part of the fund for farming.
He, therefore, pleaded with the present administration to reinvigorate the system by deploying a modification model while also institutionalizing the fund in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
