National food reserve in Nigeria is expected to increase in 2022. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mahmood Abubakar made the announcement and said the current 109,657 metric tons national food reserve is expected to increase to 219,900 metric tons by the end of 2022.
Abubakar said the increase is expected following various intervention programs and policies of the present administration towards driving the agricultural sector. Speaking at this year’s National Agricultural Show which is part of the activities of the World Food Day, he said Nigeria has abundant rainfall, 230 billion cubic meters of surface and underground water that could support 84 million hectares of arable land, of which 40% is cultivated.
Agricultural production
He said this endowment for agricultural production has immensely contributed to the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.01% in a consistent manner. As a result of the Federal government’s policy initiatives and innovative funding in the sector, significant progress has been made to improve agricultural productivity since the inception of the present Administration.
“The Ministry this year alone has raised her national food reserve stock to 109,657 MT, a figure expected to be further increased to 219,900 MT by the end of 2022. Agriculture for Food and Job Plan (AFJP), a component of President Buhari’s Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) targets five to ten Million jobs in the agricultural sector and provides zero interest loans to farmers to lift Nigerians out of poverty. The first phase of the scheme has produced over 1.1 million beneficiaries across all states and the FCT.”
“Out of the 5 million planned beneficiaries for AFJP, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has empowered 1,138,000 farmer-beneficiaries across the 36 states and the FCT under the first phase of implementation,” Dr Abukakar noted.
He further stated that since the beginning of the 2021 farming season, the Ministry has distributed inputs to states across the country to boost food production.
