The federal government will review the import policy on staple food items, The Punch reports.
Sonny Echono, the permanent secretary of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), during a meeting with Uju Hassan-Baba, the executive secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission ( NIPC), stated that the policy is unfavourable, noting that it would ensure that Nigeria was self-sufficient in food production before the restriction of the importation of these food items.
In a statement the ministry said: “The ministry would in the next three years seek the review of the current unfavourable policy by the federal government which allows the importation of staple food items such as rice, wheat and fish into the country.”
Sonny Echono said that Nigerian farmers should be linked to the market and explained that it was one of the critical factors that would determine productivity and incomes of farmers as well as promote exports through value addition.
According to the statement, the FMARD and the NIPC made the resolution when the investment promotion commission’s boss paid Echono a working visit in his office.
The FMARD permanent secretary said that Nigeria had comparative advantage in the development of agricultural sector in view of its vast arable land, huge population and markets.
Echono stressed that the main target of the ministry was to guarantee food security for the country as well as export food items to other countries in the West African sub-region.
Hassan-Baba said there had been an increase in the demand for market information on agricultural activities in Nigeria by foreign investors.
“A desk officer from the ministry should be posted to the NIPC’s one-stop shop,” she said.
Hassan-Baba announced that the NIPC would organise stakeholders’ forum on promoting investment in the agricultural sector.
She noted:” The ministry had a critical role to play in order to ensure the success of the proposed forum which comes up in Abuja soon.”
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