On Tuesday, the House of Representatives mandated the Federal and State Governments to immediately put an end to the lingering food insecurity through a mechanized agricultural revolution that would cut across the country.
The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Clement Jimbo, who solicited House intervention.
While he noted that the Parliament is saddled with the task of making laws for the peace, order and good governance of the Federation as enshrined in Section 4(2) of the 1999 Constitution, Hon. Jimbo averred that it is the responsibility of the Nigerian State to “harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, a dynamic and self-reliant economy”.
“The House is also aware that according to Food and Agricultural Organisation, Agriculture remains the foundation of our country’s economy, providing livelihoods for most Nigerians and generating millions of jobs.
“The House acknowledges Federal Government intervention strategies, which include: (a) release of fertilizers to farmers and grains to households, (b) activation of Land banks amongst others.
“The House is aware that Nigeria has a total of 70.8 million hectares of agricultural land, out of which 34 million are arable lands which maize, rice, cassava, guinea corn, yam, palm oil, beans, etc grow effectively with less soil improvements.
“The House is also aware that the Bureau of Statistics, with support from the World Bank and Food and Agricultural Organization, only recently released the National Agricultural Sample Census Report 2022, capturing a total of 40,200,000 agricultural households in Nigeria.”
He added that the report further indicated, “Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economy, supporting millions of livelihoods and contributing significantly to the nation’s GPD. Despite its importance, the sector has confronted many challenges including outdated and insufficient data to effectively plan and resource allocation.”.
“The National Agricultural Sample Census addresses this gap by providing an accurate and detailed picture of agricultural activities at household level, which is key to driving growth and development.
“The House is further aware that millets, sorghum, maize, groundnut, beans, rice, tomato, carrot etc grow very well in the north, while cassava, yam, maize, palm oil, cucumber, maize, cotton etc. do very well in the south.
“The House is concerned that despite vast financial resources appropriated in the budget and implemented and human resources dissipated by 40.2 million households, they have not addressed the current food insecurity in the nation.
“The House is worried that the current high cost of food products caused by insufficient food availability to high demand but low supply can result to malnutrition, psychological distress and other outcomes including depression.”
In the bid to address the concerns, the lawmakers urged the Federal Government in collaboration with state governments to demarcate a minimum of 18000 hectares of arable land in each of the six zones and name it Geo Agricultural Zones.
Hence, the House also mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to apportion these demarcated arable lands according to comparative advantage in crop cultivation.
On this, the House further mandated the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to post seasoned Agriculturists to be stationed in each zone and called them Geo-Agricultural Zone Project Managers with sole mandate to cultivate these lands using mechanized farming and proceed stored in National Food Bank of the nation.
Besides, beckoned its House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to monitor compliance