Buhari: Nigeria is better prepared for global food crisis because of our policies

From Abubakar Y Ojima, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria is better prepared to cope with disruptions in global agricultural supply chain prompted by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Buhari said this in a tweet on Friday.

He said his administration’s policies and investments built resilience for the country’s food security.

“Because of our policies and investments in the last seven years, towards achieving food security, Nigeria is today much better prepared to cope with the inevitable disruptions in global agricultural supply chains occasioned by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war,” he tweeted.

“I said we must grow what we eat and eat what we grow. We have always been very conscious of the need to achieve food security in Nigeria, and to encourage our local farmers and rural economies.

“This is a country that was once dependent on foreign rice. Confident that we can grow and eat Nigerian rice, we closed the border to foreign rice, and also put policies in place to support local production. Today Nigerians are eating home-grown rice.”

A report by the World Food Programme said the Russia-Ukraine was “further proof of how conflict feeds hunger, forcing people out of their homes and wiping out their sources of income”, adding that climate shocks, economic consequences of COVID-19 as well as high operating costs were causes of record high hunger crisis.

In April 2022, Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said Africa must prepare for the inevitability of a global food crisis occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine war