Nigeria has been selected as the hub for grains and other food commodities in West Africa and among member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mustapha Shehuri, disclosed by this at a workshop organised by the ministry in collaboration with the Islamic Organisation for Food Security.
He noted that based on this, food commodities, particularly grains, would be distributed from Nigeria to other countries during times of food insecurity in the affected countries.
The workshop was put together to address the global issue of food security and agricultural development, particularly among OIC member states.
In his speech at the event, obtained from the FMARD on Friday, Shehuri said, “Nigeria has been selected by the IOC to serve as hub for food grain storage for its member countries. The selection is apt as the country already has over 36 strategic grain reserve.”
Providing further explanation, the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, FMARD, Abdullahi Abubakar, said the workshop would ratify the selection of Nigeria as hub for grains in West Africa.
He said, “Another proposal that is on the table, which we hope this workshop will ratify, is for us to have a strategic food reserve system. We want to have a hub in Nigeria for grains and all sort of food commodities to be used by the West African region.
“So, Nigeria will be the hub from where we can now distribute to other countries in the event of need. All these are the information we already have and we have worked out the strategies and it is just for this workshop to ratify it.”
Asked whether Nigeria had the capacity to serve as hub for grains in the sub-region, Abubakar replied, “Yes! As compared to other member countries, in fact the selection was apt because we already have over 36 strategic grain reserves in this country.
“At least we have seven that are directly under the supervision and control of the FMARD.
He asserted that although the country’s silos do not have full scale commodities, the government does not need to build ones for the country to serve as grains hub.
Speaking on the selection, Abubakar said, “In fact, it is more than West Africa, because it is all of the member countries of the OIC, we have about 20 of them.
“The secretariat will garner all the resources from everywhere, we buy the grains, store them in Nigeria so that in the event of any form of food insecurity, we can take it from Nigeria to the affected areas.”
On his part, the Director-General, Islamic Organisation for Food Security, Yerlan Baidulet, said the organisation would ensure that food systems in member states were capable of addressing the problems of access to food and adequate nutrition.
