National Economic Council’s initiatives on food security

The National Economic Council (NEC) will take bold steps to ensure food security and end the economic challenges confronting the nation, including making fertilizer available to farmers and establishing Agro-Rangers to tackle insecurity on the farms. 

These and other decisions form the outcome of the 139th meeting of the National Economic Council held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who gave a presentation on food security in the country called for action against the dollarization of locally produced commodities like urea, which is impacting fertilizer prices and agricultural productivity negatively.

He noted that fertiliser is a major ingredient of agricultural productivity which the government is striving to attain.The meeting therefore, urged the state governors to embrace modern agricultural practices to increase productivity.

Consequently, Vice President Shettima directed a meeting of the federal government with major fertilizer producers in the country, including Indorama, Dangote and Notore.

The meeting also emphasized government’s decision to release 42,000 metric tonnes of food commodities from the National Strategic Grain Reserve to address rising prices.

To address security threats to farmers, the council considered the establishment of Agro-Rangers in the short term and the possible creation of state police in the long term.