A Professor of Agricultural Economics and lecturer at the University of Abuja, Ernest Adeniyi Aiyedun, has said that smuggling of food items was endemic to the country.
Aiuedun, who made the declaration at the 17th Inaugural Lecture, University of Abuja, entitled: “Agriculture and the Nigerian Economy, Matters Arising,” emphasised the need for increased productivity to make food sufficient for the citizenry.
According to him, staple food items like garri, maize, processed yam, parboiled special rice, palm oil are smuggled to neighbouring countries.
“Regrettably, because of the low quality control, these items are further processed in such countries and re-exported to other countries as their product without any reference,” he said.
He emphasised that the low exchange rate value of “our naira in the international currency market is having negative effect on the importation of farm inputs such as herbicide, pesticide, and farm equipment.”
“This is the mandate of the Central Bank of any country, Nigeria inclusive.”
He called on the federal and state governments to adopt measures that would reshape the country’s agriculture sector towards improved food production.
Aiyedun said if better approaches were taken, it would assist the country in maintaining its status as the food basket of West Africa, and beyond.
He said for enhanced productivity, farmers needed subsidy to support them in carrying out their farming activities, adding that “there’s no country in the world where agriculture is successful, and the people well fed without subsidies in agriculture.”
He urged the government to increased funding for Faculties of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Institutes, “provision of adequate subsidies for agricultural inputs, commodity specific government policies as well as fix rice production in Nigeria by moving from importer of rice to a major exporter of rice.”
Earlier, the vice-chancellor, Prof. Michael Adikwu, gave the assurance that the Faculty of Agriculture “will bring up standard teaching and research to boost farming.”