The Federal Government has ruled out the importation of food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.

It has also set up a committee comprising the National Security Adviser, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Inspector-General of Police to clamp down on traders hoarding grains.

This formed part of the resolutions reached at Thursday’s an emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Assessing the government’s action to tackle the hardship in the country, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria and the organised private supported the decision of the President and the governors not to adopt importation as a solution to the biting food crisis facing the nation.

They also backed the planned action against hoarders as the Nigeria Customs Service vowed to stop smuggling of food out of the country.

The prices of staples have gone up in recent times with the National Bureau of Statistics listing the 2023 December food inflation at 33.93 per cent, up from 23.75 per cent in December 2022.

Reports say the prices of staples like rice, beans, oils, plantain, grains, fish, poultry, and meat have surged by 50 per cent and this has triggered protests against the harsh development across the country.

Data obtained from the consumer price index reports by the NBS indicated Nigeria spent N1.47tn on importing food and beverages in the first six months of 2023.

A former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar, had said that the country had enough food to feed all its citizens, but it failed to grow more food for its fast-rising population due to insecurity, flooding, and low mechanisation, among other reason.

This forced the country to spend millions of dollars  yearly importing food, putting further pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves as it battles with forex Scarcity.

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