The Federal Government announced on Monday a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities in an effort to combat rising inflation that has impoverished many Nigerians.
Additionally, the government declared its intention to collaborate with states to expand land cultivation nationwide. To this end, it has suspended duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of certain food commodities via land and sea borders.
This measure is expected to decrease the demand for foreign exchange by food importers. In 2023, Nigerians spent $2.13 billion on importing food items from abroad.
Quarterly statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that despite being considered the food basket of Africa, the country imported significant amounts of food. The high food import bill remains a concern for the government, which has a large agricultural sector and has made efforts to boost local production. However, progress has been hindered by inadequate infrastructure, insecurity, and climate change.
The latest directive allowing free food imports, experts say, indicates that the Nigerian government has not yet aligned the nation with the goal of eradicating hunger by 2030, as stipulated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Previously, the government had ruled out food imports as part of its strategy to address high food costs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated that the 150-day duty-free imports would apply to commodities including maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas.
The initiative, part of the Presidential Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan, will also enable the Federal Government to import 250,000 metric tonnes each of wheat and maize.
“The imported food commodities in their semi-processed state will target supplies to the small-scale processors and millers across the country,” Kyari said.
He explained that the government has taken several measures to address food inflation caused by affordability and availability issues. “To ameliorate food inflation in the country caused by affordability and exacerbated by availability, the government has taken a raft of measures to be implemented over the next 180 days,” he said.
These measures include the 150-day duty-free import window for certain food commodities, and the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes on these imports. The commodities include maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas. Under this arrangement, imported food commodities will be subject to a Recommended Retail Price.
Addressing concerns about the quality of imported food, Kyari assured, “I am glad to reiterate that the government’s position exemplifies standards that would not compromise the safety of the various food items for consumption.”
Kyari further stated that in addition to private sector importation, the Federal Government will import 250,000MT each of wheat and maize. These semi-processed food commodities will be supplied to small-scale processors and millers nationwide.
He emphasized that this advancement plan is an initiative of President Bola Tinubu aimed at achieving food security and economic stability in Nigeria. Kyari noted that food prices have escalated across the country, affecting affordability for many Nigerians.
“The affordability crisis in our food security system has been indexed by the data from the National Bureau of Statistics, which by the last count, had put food inflation at 40.66 per cent,” he said.
Nigerians have faced high food prices since the president announced the removal of petrol subsidies and floated the naira in 2023, allowing its value to be determined by market forces. These policies led to significant increases in basic food prices, with a 50kg bag of rice rising from about N20,000 to over N70,000 in a year.
Similarly, the rising cost of poultry products has made basic protein sources like eggs unaffordable for many. An egg that sold for N100 last year now costs over N200.
The continuous increase in prices over the past year has forced some farm owners to close shop, while many farmers have reduced production due to inflationary pressures, insecurity, and extreme weather conditions.
Kyari acknowledged the public’s frustration with food prices, saying, “We have heard the cries of Nigerians over the prices of food items and condiments, with some now describing tomato as gold and proposing a variety of recipes to prepare soups and dishes with some of the overly priced food items.”
He added that common items like yam, plantain, and potato now command excessively high prices, causing concern among Nigerians.
“As a government under the leadership of President Tinubu, members of the Federal Executive Council, and indeed all other operatives in the MDAs, are fully aware of the hardship occasioned by the high cost of food items in our country. There is no doubt that food inflation is a direct consequence of several factors,” Kyari said.
He cited factors such as infrastructural challenges, multiple taxes and levies, and profiteering by marketers and traders as contributing to food inflation.
Kyari also announced that the government would collaborate with state governments to identify irrigable lands and increase cultivation. Efforts will be made to ramp up production for the 2024/2025 farming cycle, with measures such as sustained support for smallholder farmers, aggressive agricultural mechanization, and development, and collaboration with sub-national entities to identify irrigable lands.
The government will also work with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation to rehabilitate and maintain irrigation facilities under river basin authorities across the country. Other measures include strategic engagement with youth and women for immediate greenhouse cultivation of horticultural crops and fast-tracking engagements with the Nigerian Military to cultivate arable lands under the Defence Farms Scheme.
