Minister explains Nigerian Government’s efforts at reducing food prices

*The Federal Government is taking actions to ensure the agricultural sector is improved, and the foods along with the livestock for the teeming population of Nigeria are produced

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In view of the persistent rise in the prices of foodstuffs in the country’s economy in recent months, Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, has said the Federal Government intensifying efforts at creating stimulus that will force down food prices in the economy.

ConsumerConnect gathered the Minister disclosed this development Monday, November 15, 2021, during a familiarisation tour of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), in Abuja, FCT.

Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development

Dr. Abubakar said: “We are doing everything possible to bring up some kind of stimulus that will cause a reduction in food prices, naturally nobody will just sit and watch.

“We are doing what we can to see that the agricultural sector is improved and the food that we expect for the teeming population of Nigeria is being produced, the same thing with the livestock.

He also stated: “The government is doing everything possible. This President, Muhammadu Buhari, is very passionate about agriculture, about seeing that people have food every single day to eat without struggles on their tables.”

Abubakar noted that he would support the Agricultural Research Council and the research institutes in the country to work together to develop better crops that can yield more and resist disease and drought.

According to him, the President specifically directed the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development to make sure that the research institutes in the country were being well taken care of.

He also said that it is his priority to see improved capacity to conduct research so that crops can be improved upon.

The Minister restated the government’s readiness to reintroduce the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) after the scheme was scrapped a few years ago, with a view to making it work better.

“My own concern is to make sure that the input gets directly to the farmers, not being withheld by middlemen.

“We will do all it takes to make sure that the system that will be rolled out gets the input to the grassroots farmers,” he said.

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