Shettima Tackles Food Insecurity with New Presidential Unit
Food Security Gets a Boost as Shettima Launches Special Unit
Vice President Kashim Shettima launches the Presidential Food Systems Coordination Unit (PFSCU) to address food insecurity in Nigeria, collaborating with states, development partners, and stakeholders to enhance agricultural productivity and achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
The Presidential Food Systems Coordination Unit, or PFSCU, was established by Vice President Kashim Shettima to address food insecurity in Nigeria.
The president's senior special assistant for media and communications, Stanley Nkwocha, said on Friday that President Bola Tinubu's administration is implementing this program as part of its efforts to reduce hunger and misery in the country.
Shettima stated that in order to address the nation's overall food insecurity problem as well as the growing costs of commodities, the president is working with states, development partners, and other important stakeholders.
“This followed a presentation by the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture, Office of the Vice President, Marion Moon,” Shettima said.
The vice president stressed that the country is facing an unprecedented food security problem while speaking to a gathering of governors, ministries, and representatives of development partners. He emphasized how important it is to quickly acknowledge and embrace this fact.
“Food insecurity endangers the very basis of our democratic experiment, and this is why all hands have to be on deck. We are in a food security crisis, but it also provides us the opportunity to re- engineer and reposition the nation on a firmer footing,” he said.
Shettima made it clear that the unit is not intended to replace the Ministry of Agriculture, but she also underlined that all stakeholders must work together and provide resources due to the seriousness and urgency of the problem.
He emphasized the green imperative program as a crucial undertaking for the PFSCU to initiate and carry out. The program is a private sector-driven, government-catalyzed agricultural industrialization initiative.
The vice president stated that Nigeria's agricultural productivity might increase significantly with better fertilizer use, seeds, and farming techniques.
The committee's state governors presented strategies to increase crop yields, modernize farming methods, and make Nigeria a self-sufficient food producer.
The governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu, emphasized the necessity of modernizing agriculture in order to sufficiently feed the populace while reaffirming his state's commitment to give food to the country.
The governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum, emphasized the need for a coordinated approach and noted that Nigeria's attempts to achieve food security are seriously hampered by low productivity and rapid population growth.
Zulum promoted better financing, more investment in commercial agriculture, and more farmer security.
Jigawa state's governor, Umar Namadi, highlighted the possibility of achieving food security in his state.
“All that is needed is the political will to drive the process. Our lands are very fertile. In Jigawa, there are places where we are yielding ten tonnes per hectare of rice,” Namadi said.
“There are so many places like that. As of today, our average in Jigawa State is about 12.56 per hectare. We are on the right course. What we need is sustained political will.”
Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago suggested in his speech that his state act as a test bed for the president's food security program.
Bago emphasized that Niger State, which has twenty experimental irrigation schemes and 5,000 tractors, has invested more than N100 billion in agricultural modernization. To guarantee the success of these initiatives, he urged assistance from the government, World Bank, and other development partners.
The deputy governor of Ebonyi state, Patricia Obila, emphasized the value of tractor mechanization for year-round output and proposed encouraging youth agriculture by building farm villages with basic facilities.
Speaking on behalf of a group of donors, Dominique Kouacou, the Food and Agricultural Organization's (FAO) national representative, reaffirmed the commitment of these donors to aiding the Nigerian government in addressing food insecurity. Kouacou commended the president and vice president for their eagerness to tackle agricultural issues, pointing out that this has redoubled donors' dedication to backing government programs.
Also attending the meeting were Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security; Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security; Maifata Aminu Mu'azu, National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON; and Muhammed Abu Ibrahim, Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund, NADF.
Other notable attendees included Omoboyede Olusanya, Managing Director/CEO of Flour Mills of Nigeria; Rasheed Sarunmi, Managing Director of SaroAfrica; Vinay Vutukuru, Programme Leader for Sustainable Development, Nigeria at the World Bank; and Manievel Emmanuel Sene, the World Bank's Senior Agriculture Economist, among others.
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