Reps condemn reliance on annual imports of food worth $10bn

Members of the House of Representatives have condemned the heavy reliance on importation of food items into the country in spite of the availability of vast arable lands. It is estimated that Nigerians spend over $10 billion to import food items every year.
 
Yakubu Dogara
Speaker, House of Representatives
The House Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions made the denunciation at a public hearing on three bills namely: a bill for an Act to amend the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act; a bill for an Act to establish the Universities of Veterinary Teaching Hospital and a bill for an Act to establish Nigerian Agricultural Associations.

The committee urged the executive arm of the government to ensure food sufficiency in the country through a deliberate policy that will reposition the agricultural sector for sustainable productivity. Honourable Linus Okorie, Chairman of the House Committee, identified underfunding as the major cause of the challenges facing the country’s agric sector.

Okorie said “Agriculture remains an important sector of the Nigerian economy with the highest employment generation potential, food security, self-sufficiency and poverty reduction.

“With about 84 million hectares of arable land available for cultivation, 263 billion cubic meters of water bodies, including two of the largest rivers in Africa, a large supply of cheap labour and a huge market population of approximately 183 million people, Nigeria is endowed with everything required for self-sufficiency and food security.


“Regrettably, however, despite the huge potential, we remain unable to feed ourselves and translate the sector into prosperity for the people due to decades of misplaced priority and primitive farming practices that have failed to positive results.”

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