Finding solution to soaring cost of foodstuff in Nigeria

It is no longer news that the cost of living in Nigeria has gone beyond an average family, especially foodstuff.

There is this common adage that if you build the farmers, you build the nation.

But what is happening today in Nigeria simply shows that the farmers in the country are far from being built. What could have been responsible for this neglect?

First and foremost is the quest for white collar jobs, which a lot of people believe generate more benefits, especially finance. But with what is happening in the country today or even globally, that belief or concept is fast becoming defeated. The reason is not farfetched because even the existence of the so-called white collar jobs is difficult to come by.

The oil industry, for instance, has drastically reduced its workforce to align with the reality of the global economic downturn. Since the  COVID-19 saga, most companies that pruned down their workforce are yet to recover from the pandemic, not to talk of recalling their sacked workers.

But the fact is that agriculture has never witnessed massive retrenchment of workers like is frequently experienced in hi-tech sectors like the oil and gas industry. The reason is that farming falls under the natural vocation of man.

What are the causes of rising prices of foodstuff in a nation like ours? Basic amongst them is neglect on the part of the government. In a country like ours where unemployment is staring us in the face, what stops the government from setting up farms to engage the teeming unemployed youths.

It is an established fact that one of the highest causes of insecurity is unemployment. And here we are being ravaged by insecurity on a daily basis. Hardly a day passes without hearing of one crime or another. Kidnapping for ransom is fast becoming the order of the day and still the government has not found it reasonable to look the way of agriculture to absorb the army of restive youths that are now taking solace in crime.

Inflation is yet another trigger to high cost of living and indeed foodstuff. Since the removal of oil subsidy in May, 2023 by the Ahmed Bola Tinubu-led Government, the rise in cost of food items naturally joined other products to skyrocket and of course you don’t blame farmers or traders for that because the agricultural subsector does not exist in isolation to other sectors.

For instance, farm produce is evacuated by transportation and the transporters  buy petroleum products to operate. What that means is that any increase in that sector automatically affects the farmers and by extension the consumers.

Another possible cause of the high cost of food is climatic changes. This is a natural phenomenon and occurs anytime. It happens when the earth just refuses to yield naturally and there is nothing anybody can do when that happens. Man only resorts to prayers to appease the God of productivity, while Christians and Muslims pray to their God, traditional worshippers sacrifice to the God of the land to show mercy.

But the question is, has the Government or powers that be taken advantage of the benefits of agriculture to ameliorate the current excruciating high cost of food in Nigeria. If for nothing else, a well fed man is a healthy man and a healthy man is a wealthy man. And when the citizens of a country are healthy, the Government gains on all fronts.

For example, little or nothing could be expended on medication, there would be a healthy workforce, schools and other sectors would run smoothly. The question is to what extent has the Government taken this advantage? Other benefits of agriculture include production of raw materials for the industries, as well as foreign exchange earnings. Now that the dollar is exchanged for almost N2,000, is it not to our advantage if we can feed ourselves or even export to other countries to earn foreign exchange.

What does it take to achieve this, just political will to formulate people-friendly policies to establish farms and encourage farmers to produce food for the citizenry. And of course when agricultural products are produced, they have to be evacuated through the roads. So a responsible Government must build roads for such purposes and more.

Markets too are important to sell the agricultural produce. Nothing also stops any responsible Government from building irrigation canals,where rainfall or water is a challenge to aid the farmers. It is not enough for us to sit down and continue to lament about the high cost of living, especially foodstuff, when we can do something.

There is a current campaign going on by the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) that everybody must own a farm, irrespective of what you are doing. You do not need to own a commercial farm to achieve that, at least use your backyard to grow basic products to feed your family and you will be glad you did. When to act is now!