THE FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGES UNDER A DEMOCRATIC RULE
BY
AHAZIAH ABUBAKAR SULEIMAN

 

Food Security is the ability to secure what is needed to feed a nation.  Over the years, Governments all over the world have formulated policies that will ensure that their nations do not fail in feeding its citizenry through the implementation of aggressive agricultural policies.

In Nigeria, before and after Independence, agricultural production remained the mainstay of the country’s economy. It did very well and performed creditably. Agriculture became the biggest employer of labour with over seventy percent of the population depending on this sector.

However, even though successive governments came up with different Agricultural Programmes, aimed at meeting the food and industrial needs of the Nation, programmes such as “Green Revolution, Operation Feed the Nation and Back to Farm” in some states of the Federation lacked continuity and sustainability.

Government at different times came up with agricultural projects such as the River Basin Development Authorities and the Agricultural Development Project.  As successful as these projects were at inception, the advent of oil as a foreign exchange earner made the authorities to relax the implementation of its various agricultural programmes.

Lack of continuity in the agricultural policies and over dependence on oil revenues led to a total collapse in the agricultural sector. Nigeria that used to pride itself as one of the largest exporter of cocoa and cotton, today is a shadow of what it was at Independence. The groundnut pyramids have disappeared, the palm and cocoa plantations have all remained desolate with agriculture no longer attractive to the youth.

 

With the return of the country to democratic rule in 1999, the civilian administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did not mince words in drawing the attention of the country to agriculture. The government came up with various programmes and policies that would make agriculture attractive. Some of those included interest free facilities from designated banks. The government came up with schemes such as Poverty Alleviation Programme, Youth Employment Scheme, all with a view to improving food production.

When the Yar’Adua administration came on board, it mapped out strategies to meet up with the food security challenge of his administration under the seven point agenda. The strategies were aimed at stopping wastage and focusing on wealth generation through the promotion of large scale commercial agriculture. The invitation of displaced Zimbabwean farmers to invest in Nigeria is a case in point.

The government also established special intervention fund with a take-off grant of more than two hundred billion naira over a period of four years to boost agricultural production and put Nigeria on the right track to export agricultural products. The government also injected some money into the country’s textile industry by extension, encouraging cotton farming.

Eleven years of democratic rule has also witnessed the establishment of fertilizer blending companies to meet local needs while the importation of the product is being highly subsidized and made available to farmers.

With all these laudable programmes and policies in place, some of the major challenges impeding Nigeria’s attainment of full food security include, lack of infrastructure such as, feeder roads, storage facilities, manpower and skill development with delivery services from extension workers  lacking. In some parts of the country, land tenure system is also affecting agriculture.

Similarly, prices of inputs such as seedlings, pesticides and fertilizer are increasing in such a way that the local farmer is finding it extremely difficult to obtain. Natural disasters such as drought, pests and erosion, harsh weather conditions, desert encroachment and man made industrial pollution is not helping matters.

As Nigeria marks eleven years of uninterrupted democratic rule, it is time for the government to revert to the old system where Agriculture was the main stay of the economy.   There should be consistency in agricultural policies that will help in increasing food production with attendant fall in prices and creation of jobs for the teaming youth.