EXPERTS LAMENT LOOMING FOOD CRISIS, SUGGEST WAYS OUT

REPORTER: CHUKWUBUIKE MADU

Recently, some analysts, including Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, say that the on-going Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect food production globally, with significant impact in Nigeria.

This is largely because Nigeria depends on Russia and Ukraine for ingredients used for the production of fertilizer and that the two warring countries are among the largest exporters of wheat in the world.

Radio Nigeria in this report ascertains from experts and stakeholders in agriculture what could be done to avert the predicted food crisis in the country.

Nigeria is among the countries of the world blessed with arable land capable of producing food to satisfy local consumption and for export.

Unfortunately, Nigeria’s fame in food production has reduced over the years as the country depends on import of some food commodities to feed her citizens and for industrial use.

Wheat and active ingredients for fertilizer production are among commodities Nigeria import.

However, Ukraine and Russia, who are among the world’s largest producers of wheat and active ingredients for fertilizer, are neck neck deep in war.

And with heavy sanctions against Russia, which included ban by NATO countries and their allies, on importation of food and other materials from Russia, analysts say Nigeria may face serious food crisis done by government and investors in the agric sector.

Already, the cost of some food stuffs, including wheat, is high in Europe and America, as well as in Nigeria.

So, what could be done to avert the impeding food shortage.

Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Mathew Idu, firstly explains that inorganic fertilizer is not good for food production.

According to the Commissioner, inorganic fertilizer is not only bad to the soil but to human health, saying it also causes cancer.

“Agronomically, inorganic fertilizer are not soil friendly. The soil friendly nutrient is organic material, organic fertilizer.

“For long, we have been clamouring for farmers to get used to organic fertilizer because we know what inorganic fertilizer does to the soil and to human system.

“There are chemicals we apply in our farm that don’t get dissolved in the soil. We find the same chemicals in our crops, invariably it gets to the human system and causes us harm and diseases.

“In some countries, fertilizers are banned and Mark you that the crops even produced with inorganic fertilizer cannot pass the test of exportation,” the Commissioner argued.

Dr. Idu, who is also a farmer, further notes that the present situation is a blessing in disguise as it presents an opportunity for Nigerians to look inwards for a better alternative to in organic fertilizer.

“It is a positive thing for us because farmers will have no option than to move to the organic materials that are available.

“They are available, it’s just that we are not patronizing them. Compost is something any good farmer can have in his farm. He can do it himself.

“But we have even some liquid ones that farmers can use that I have even personally used and I know it’s efficiency,” he stated.

Reacting to the issue, the Chairman All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Enugu State Chapter, Mr. Romanus Eze laments that since the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the cost of fertilizer has skyrocketed, quite above the reach of the ordinary farmer, describing it as a dangerous signal.

The AFAN Chairman, who corroborates the assertion of the Agric Commissioner on the disadvantages of the use of inorganic fertilizers, calls for ways of commercializing the production of organic manure, as it is easy to source and affordable.

“Organic fertilizer is even the best in terms of health hazards and so on. You cannot export anything outside the shores of this country with inorganic fertilizer.

“All the farmers can lay hands is pig dung, fowl dung but if we can have a plant that can roll out all these wastes, especially human excreta from soak away and package it into organic fertilizer, the sky is your limit,” the AFAN Chairman argued.

Mr. Eze also appeals for urgent government intervention in the cost of diesel, which has continued to rise astronomically since the Russian-Ukraine hostilities.

According to the AFAN Chairman, the high cost of diesel has affected farm mechanization and other agro input.

“Last year or so, a litre of diesel was sold about #9,000.00, #10,000.00, #11,000.00, depending on the brand.

“But fertilizer now is going for #17,000.00, #18,000.00 per litre because of this war because all these things are being imported.

“I don’t know how farmers can come out of this if there is no way government can cushion this effect early enough,” he queried.

Similarly, Enugu State Coordinator value Chain Development Programme of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD/VCD, Dr. Edward Isiwu, says cassava can be processed to serve as a veritable alternative to wheat, which has become scarce since the Russia invasion of Ukraine.

“Yes, Russia and Ukraine give us wheat. What is wheat meant for if not flour for production of bread and baking?

“So we can use cassava to do what wheat can do. We have enough arable land, land that is wasting in Enugu State and other states of the south east as well as elsewhere in the country,” Dr. Isiwu lamented.

Dr. isiwu appeals to Government to be proactive by providing tractors for farmers to produce and process cassava into flour, not only for local consumption but for export to earn foreign exchange.