The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, has said the country has enough food to feed all citizens.
Abubakar spoke during his presentation at the fifth edition of the “PMB Administration Scorecard 2015-2023 Series,” at the Radio House, Abuja, on Monday.
He blamed the rising cost of food in the country on inflation and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many countries, including Nigeria, to shut down important economic activities for months.
He noted that to improve food stock in the country, the ministry was currently constructing 10 large scale integrated rice mills with 320 metric tonnes capacity per day in Jigawa, Kano, Adamawa, Niger, Kaduna, Gombe, Ekiti, Ogun, Bayelsa and the Federal Capital Territory in addition to supporting the production and distribution of breeder, foundation and certified rice seeds for farmers.
Abubakar said the presidential fertiliser initiative launched in 2016 had increased the number of fertilizer plants from eight to 200 and raised production from 300,000 metric tonnes to seven million metric tonnes.
He said, “We have enough food to take care of Nigerians. We are producing food across the country and we will continue to do so to feed Nigerians in line with our mandate and expedite the transformation of the rural communities of Nigeria.”
The minister noted that the ministry was also constructing two 2000 metric tonnes specialised warehouse for the storage of food commodities at Federal Government-retained silo complexes in Irrua, Edo State, and Ilesha, Osun State.
