The presidency said late Friday (yesterday) that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will start distributing 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted food commodities, released from the national strategic reserve.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
In the statement entitled: ‘Update on Tinubu administration’s efforts to ramp up food supply in the country’, Adenuga said the food items that will be distributed free of charge to the vulnerable population across the country, had been delayed by the bagging process.
He also said the distribution of 60,000 metric tonnes of milled rice, which would be paid for by the federal government would soon follow.
“The Tinubu administration, through the federal ministry of agriculture and food security, is in the final stages of releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted food commodities to support the vulnerable population across the country.
“The grains in seven locations of strategic reserve are now being bagged for onward delivery to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The need to bag the grains caused the delay as the bags were freshly ordered by the government.
“Nigerians will not need to pay for the grain bags, as they are free.
“This will be complemented by the 60,000 metric tonnes of milled rice to be purchased by the Federal Government from the Mega Rice Millers,” the statement said.
Quoting the minister of agriculture and food security, Mr Abubakar Kyari, the presidential aide said with the announcement of the impending release of food commodities from the strategic reserve, there is a noticeable reduction in commodity prices across major grains markets in the country.
Giving an update on the directive to the federal ministry of agriculture and food security to invest massively in conjunction with Nigerian farmers and other producers, Onanuga said the first phase of the dry season farming under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project kicked off in November 2023.
“It focuses on the cultivation of wheat across 15 wheat-producing states, covering 118,657 hectares and involving 107,429 farmers. The fields are green now and harvest will commence in a matter of weeks.
“There are fantastic reports of the growth of wheat from Jigawa State, which is now targeting harvest from about 50,000 hectares, 10,000 hectares more than initially allotted under the programme,” he said.
The presidential aide also said the second phase of the dry season farming will commence soon, across all 36 states and the FCT.
“It will cover rice, maize, and cassava. For rice, the target is 250,000 hectares involving 500,000 farmers with the expected output of 1 million metric tons of paddy rice.
“For maize, we are cultivating 55,000 hectares with 110,000 farmers thereby adding 165,000 metric tons to national maize production while for cassava; we are doing 35,000 hectares with 70,000 farmers to produce 525,000 metric tons of cassava,” he added.
