VP Kashim Shettima Announces Plan to Stabilize Food Prices with National Commodity Board
The federal government has unveiled plans to establish a Commodity Board aimed at regulating the surging prices of food in Nigeria. Vice President Kashim Shettima made the announcement during a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems, and resource mobilization at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The proposed Commodity Board will be tasked with assessing and regulating food prices, as well as overseeing a strategic food reserve to stabilize prices of critical grains and other essential food items.
Shettima outlined the government’s immediate, medium, and long-term strategies to address potential food crises. These include revitalizing the food supply through specific interventions such as distributing fertilizers and grains to farmers and households, fostering collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources for efficient farmland irrigation, and addressing price volatility by establishing a National Commodity Board.
In addition, the government remains committed to restoring degraded land, with plans to rehabilitate four million hectares, equivalent to nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within the nation’s borders, as part of its commitment to the AFR100 Initiative.
Regarding security challenges preventing farmers from working on their farms, Shettima assured that the government would engage its security architecture to protect farms and farmers, allowing them to return to the farmlands without fear of attacks. The government also plans to activate land banks, with 500,000 hectares of already mapped land to be used to increase the availability of arable land for farming, thereby boosting food output.
Food inflation has become a major concern in Nigeria, with the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics reporting food inflation at 33.39%. Despite the government’s declaration of a state of emergency on food security, prices of food items continue to rise. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) projected that around 26.5 million Nigerians will be at risk of hunger in 2024, with the FCT, Sokoto, Borno, and Zamfara states most at risk.
To alleviate the situation, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to immediately release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, and other commodities from the national strategic reserves to crash the prices of food items in the country.
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