Food Emergency
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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announces emergency measures to arrest rising food prices as senate approves $800 million World Bank loan request
A state of emergency has been declared in Nigeria as a result of food shortages and surging prices, with the country’s government announcing a range of measures to address the crisis.
On Thursday, it was announced that fertilizers and grains will “immediately” be released to farmers, and 500,000 hectares of farmland and river basins will be activated for year-round farming.
The move will also expand the central bank’s role in financing the agricultural value chain. “We declared a state of emergency and unveiled a comprehensive intervention plan on food security, affordability, and sustainability, taking decisive action to tackle food inflation,” President Bola Tinubu said on Twitter.
Tinubu emphasized that the goal of the intervention was to promote agriculture and increase job creation, pledging that “no one will be left behind” in his government’s efforts to ensure “affordable, plentiful food.”
Attahiru Bafarawa, a former governor of Nigeria’s Sokoto State, had warned earlier this month about banditry in the country’s north, saying it threatens food security and was a “serious disaster.”
Africa’s largest economy has seen a surge in the cost of food and transportation due to the president’s removal of fuel subsidies and sweeping exchange-rate reform since May.
In a statement on Thursday, government spokesperson Dele Alake said “savings from the fuel subsidy removal” would be directed at revamping the agricultural sector. The subsidy had kept prices cheap for decades but had become increasingly expensive – it cost the government $10 billion last year – leading to wider budget deficits and driving up government debt.
A National Commodity Board will be established and charged with reviewing food prices and maintaining a “strategic food reserve that will be used as a price stabilization mechanism for critical grains and other food items,” Alake said.
Nigeria’s Senate on Thursday speedily approved a request by President Bola Tinubu to borrow $800 million from the World Bank to help cushion the impact of high fuel prices after ending a popular but costly petrol subsidy.Tinubu had requested the Senate’s consent earlier on Thursday for the loan, which had previously been approved by the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari, to help scale up the National Social Safety Net Programme, according to a letter to lawmakers.
“The purpose of the facility is to expand coverage of shock responsive safety net support among the poor and vulnerable Nigerians,” Tinubu said, adding that 12 million poor households will be paid 8,000 naira ($10.32) per month for six months, “with a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.”
Authorities in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, also plan to raise the minimum wage, with details expected to be finalised next month when talks with the main labour unions are set to be concluded.
The House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, also approved on Thursday Tinubu’s request to amend the 2022 supplementary budget to allow the government to spend 500 billion naira to “cushion the effects of the removal of fuel subsidy.”The changes will allow the government to redirect spending previously budgeted for other projects.
As at close of business Friday $1 was 776 Naira.
The cost of food in Nigeria had increased by 24.82% in May compared to the same time last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It explained that the year-on-year increase in food inflation was caused, among other things, by price hikes in oil, yam, bread, cereals, and fish.
Akowe with reports from Abuja with materials from Reuters/RT/AFP/Twitter
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