On July 8, Abubakar Kyari, Nigeria’s minister of Agriculture and Food Security, announced that duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and beans would be suspended through the country’s land and sea borders for 150 days.
Kyari said the plan would ease the price hike of food items, adding that the government had adopted measures to be implemented in 180 days.
While the rise in food prices is painful and alarming for most Nigerians and many would welcome some relief, the move appears to have been impulsive and indicative of other shortcomings.
For one, it appears that that there was no consultation with relevant stakeholders, particularly the farmers’ groups before the decision was made.
This is evidenced by protests by the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Lagos state chapter, who appealed to the Federal Government to encourage local rice farmers in the country rather than allow importation.
The Chairman of RIFAN Lagos State, Mr. Rapheal Hunsa, said the policy was not beneficial to farmers at all and that the Federal Government should encourage local farmers the way governments of other countries do.
Furthermore, the tenure of the waiver on duties and taxes on food imports is worrisome, as it spans all of 180 days, which amounts to six months, or more than the full span from seed sowing to harvest for most crops.
That means the local farmers’ full year harvest would be exposed to privileged competition from abroad without prior notice or subvention, which could spell bankruptcy this season and incapacity in the next.
The decision then raises questions about the state of the country’s strategic food reserves which is touted as having capacity for capacity of 1.3 million metric tons of mostly grains.
The reserve is supposed to be able to sustain the nation for at least a full season if there were challenges with harvests.
Food reserves ought to sustain the entire country if productivity was to be halted to near zero for a complete season or even two seasons.
Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfBD), has come out to say that the Federal Government’s decision to suspend the duties and taxes on imported food commodities is depressing.
In a statement on Saturday, Adesina said the policy might jeopardise the significant efforts and private investments made in Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilise food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilise the naira, Adesina added.
Nigeria must come out of the habit of these knee-jerk decisions. As a representative government, this administration needs to consult more to make informed and representative decisions. Government also needs to plan and communicate its plans with the people much of the way.
