Nigeria in State of Emergency Over Food Security

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in response to high inflation, which threatens food security in the African country. 

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According to the president's spokesman, Dele Alake, the decision was taken after meeting with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa in the capital, Abuja.

Alake said the government will put in place several strategies to reverse inflation and ensure an uninterrupted supply of affordable food for Nigerians in the future.

The declaration of a state of emergency is aimed at mobilizing all available resources to mitigate the crisis, the official noted. 

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Nigeria's headline inflation rate shot up to 22.41% in May, with food being the main driver of the upward phenomenon.

Government measures in response to the crisis

It is proposed to improve the agricultural sector in the short term by taking measures such as the release of fertilizers and seeds from government warehouses to farmers and households. This order with immediate effect seeks to "mitigate the impact of subsidy removal." In this regard, the spokesman said that the removal of the fuel subsidy program had affected many households and that the president was keen to prevent further suffering. 

The president also ordered the ministries of agriculture and water resources to cooperate closely to ensure adequate irrigation of farmland and to guarantee year-round food production.

Tinubu has pledged to set up ranches in all Nigerian states, and the national government will pay for land ceded to the state by its owners, Alake said. In addition, the president has also pledged to bring 500,000 hectares of state land into agricultural production.

On price control, Alake reported that "we will establish and support a National Commodity Board that will continuously review and evaluate food prices, in addition to maintaining a strategic food reserve to be used as a price stabilization mechanism for critical grains and other foods."

Food insecurity in Nigeria comes as the country faces a number of challenges in its agricultural sector, including farmer-pastoralist clashes, climate change, inflation, limited access to modern farming techniques, and the growing threat of pests and diseases.