Surprisingly, the Federal Government has admitted that more than 31.8 million Nigerians are currently facing acute food shortages due to hardship occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal.
This is according to a study conducted by several international development partners, stating that it has in resulted in widespread malnutrition among women and children.
The findings were presented during meetings with the government on Monday and Tuesday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
The study was conducted by development partners, including the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and the German development agency GIZ. It relied on statistics from the Cadre Harmonise, a regional food security framework, to analyze nutrition data.
It states that “the surge in food commodity prices, which is as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy in addition to security challenges, has placed millions of Nigerians in a precarious situation.”
National Convener of Food Systems and Director of Social Development in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Sanjo Faniran, stated that the study provided valuable insights by identifying gaps, successes, and challenges, and offering key recommendations.
The report from the federal government aligns with similar reports from international development organisations such as the World Bank, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the World Food Program (WFP) and others.
Earlier this year, the World Bank’s food security report for Nigeria projected that seven northern states would face severe food security challenges due to escalating food inflation and insecurity in key food-producing areas. The Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast has severely disrupted food production, leading to widespread destruction of farmlands.
Additionally, the farmer-herder crisis and ongoing banditry have significantly impacted agricultural output in the Northwest and North central regions.
These security issues, compounded by disruptions in global food supply chains, have driven Nigeria’s food inflation by over 40% in June- although there has been some marginal decline in July.
Efforts from the federal government to combat the food crisis
To combat the food crisis, the federal government is mulling the idea of state/community policing to help secure farming communities.
Already the federal government has deployed up to 10,000 agro-rangers to help combat insecurity in up to 19 states of the country.
Furthermore, the federal government has approved duty-free importation of foods such as rice, maize, beans, sorghum etc for 150 days pending when farmers harvest their products.
However, this plan has upset some stakeholders in the agricultural sector stating that it could erode the gains made in local food production.
