The Federal Government has disclosed that it purchased 58,500 metric tons of milled rice from the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) as part of its efforts to stabilise the food items market nationwide.
The Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, who made this disclosure during a media chat with journalists in his office in Abuja, said that the Nigerian government had urged the World Food Programme (WFP) to suspend food purchases from the domestic market in order not to worsen the current food inflation in the country.
He explained: “What we did not want to do, was to get to market and purchase foodstuff, we have appealed to the World Food Programme (WFP), which is a United Nations Agency, not to make bulk purchases from the market so as not to exacerbate the food price inflation that we have now.”
Commenting on the recent N100 billion fertiliser donation from the CBN, the Minister expressed optimism that the initiative would enhance food production and price stabilisation in the nation’s agro-commodities market.
According to him, the handover letter of the donations from the apex bank has been received by the Ministry and distribution of the fertilisers would commence “as soon as we get the locations which I am sure are spread across the country, we will swing into action”
Kyari also spoke on 500 tractors recently assembled by the John Deere Group which are to be delivered to the Federal Government to boost mechanized agriculture, enhance productivity, and ensure healthy food nutrition in the country.
He hinted that the first batch of the 500 tractors was expected to be delivered by the end of May, with additional deliveries scheduled for September this year.
Similarly, the minister restated the government’s commitment to meet the target of 2,000 tractors over the next five years as agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Ministry.
