Nigeria will be benefiting from an emergency food project fund currently being mapped out by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
Point News247 reports that the AfDB has developed a $1.5 billion Emergency Food Plan for the African continent.
President of AfDB Dr Akinwumi Adesina spoke Tuesday at State House, Abuja, during a chat with President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Adesina who briefed the president on steps being taken by the bank to avert food crisis in Africa, in the foreseeable future,stated that the Russia-Ukraine war would create global problems, and particularly for Africa, which imports a huge percentage of its food from the two countries.
Speaking specifically of Nigeria, the Nigerian-born Adesina, and a former Minister of Agriculture, said in the wet season of 2022, at least 5 million smallholder farmers would be helped to cultivate 1 million hectares of maize, 1 million hectares of rice, and 250,000 hectares of sorghum and soybeans, respectively.
Already, the price of wheat has gone up about 60%. Maize and other grains will also be affected. There may be fertilizer crisis, as there would be about 2 million metric tons deficit.
In his words; “And that will affect food production by about 20%. Africa will lose $11 billion worth of food, and coming shortly after COVID-19, that would be rather serious,” the AfDB President disclosed.
To prepare against the evil day, Dr Adesina said the AfDB has developed a $1.5 billion Africa Emergency Food Plan, which is now before the bank’s Board for approval.
He added: “We were not ready for COVID-19, but we are now planning to avert food crisis on the continent. There is plan to help farmers cultivate wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, and soybeans. It will mitigate the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.”
In total, our support will help Nigeria to produce 9.5 million metric tons of food.”
States that will benefit from the assistance include Kano, Ogun, Oyo, Kaduna, Imo, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Dr Adesina submitted: “Mr President, you have a passion for agriculture. We are behind you strongly, and we want to ensure Nigeria won’t feel the impact of the food crisis.”
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 quoted President Muhammadu Buhari saying he gave applause to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) for planning ahead of whatever negative consequences may come from the Russia-Ukraine war in terms of food security.
“Thank you for knowing our weaknesses and our strengths, and for planning and working ahead,” President Buhari said.
“We are very much aware of the need for food security, and to encourage our local farmers, that was why we closed our borders for about two years to curb smuggling. We made some progress.”