By Akeem Salami

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Economic and Agricultural experts have raised an alarm over another looming food disaster caused by the July, August long dry spell and insecurity which they said have destroyed most of food crops planted this year.

 According to them, the unusual long dry spell and the worsening insecurity have wreaked havocs to food crops production, which may spell more doom to food sufficiency if necessary steps are not taken.

They, therefore, called on the governments to embark on massive food production as soon as another round of rain starts to prevent a looming food disaster and insecurity in the country.

They contended that several strategies the Federal Government and some States have adopted to combat hunger and hardship, posed by high prices of food could cripple the nation’s food production.

They warned that the current measures to encourage food importation by the Federal Government to address the current food shortage in the country are not the best options and cannot yield the desired result.

The Federal Government had rolled out some palliative measures, including importing food items such as grains, to address the biting food shortage in the country and alleviate the hardship among Nigerians.

However, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, criticized the approach as insufficient and not the best option to address the country’s hardship.

Also, in separate interviews with The Hope, economic experts and dons highlighted several strategies the country could adopt to combat hardship, rather than encourage food importation at the expense of the Nigeria’s economy.

Prof. (Mrs) Mary Fasoranti, a lecturer from the Department of Economics at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, emphasised that liberalizing the importation of food and grains would discourage local farmers.

She also noted that returning to farm would increase food production in the country.

The don further urged the government at all levels to prioritize security and implement proper measures, especially in towns, borders, and villages, to prevent kidnapping and destruction of farmlands across the country.

According to her, market unions (traders’ associations) are a significant factor contributing to the high cost of living in Nigeria.

“I believe if we invest in agriculture and give farmers necessary supports things will improve for us in this country.

On his part, Dr. Ikuemonisan Edamisan, a lecturer from the Department of Agricultural Economics at AAUA, suggested that government should provide adequate infrastructural support for those interested in farming.

He advised the government to concentrate on local farm estates and create productive and empowerment policies for local governments to positively affect their production and help them identify their products.

According to him, one way to reduce suffering in Nigeria is for the government to focus more on food production, which will be available for harvesting in six months, with a particular reference to maize and tomatoes.

“There should be a government policy in terms of corn production and a direct policy affecting maize or corn, which takes three months for maize and tomatoes to be harvested,” Dr. Ikuemonisan said.

He also recommended government intervention in providing agric support to farmers.

 “The government should also intervene by giving out farm palliatives to farmers,” he added.