- By Kamil Opeyemi
“A 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities, suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities (through land and sea borders). These commodities include maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas.
Apparently worried by the worsening food crisis in the country, the Federal Government on Monday suspended imports duty on selected food items.
Government said the move is to bring prices down and arrest the worsening food inflation.
Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, said the suspension is for a window of 150-day.
The government had earlier ruled out the importation of food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
While speaking at the press conference held in Abuja, Kyari said that 150 days of duty-free imports would be valid for commodities including maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas.
He said the initiative is part of the Presidential Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan.
He promised the move would allow the Federal Government to import 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 250,000MT of maize.
It explained that the imported food commodities in their semi-processed state would target supplies to the small-scale processors and millers across the country.
Kyari said, “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:
“A 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities, suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities (through land and sea borders). These commodities include maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas. Under this arrangement, imported food commodities will be subjected to a Recommended Retail Price.
“I am aware that some good citizens might be concerned about the quality of the would-be imported food commodities as it relates to the trending worries around the genetic composition of food. 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.”
In addition to the importation by the private sector, Kyari said the “Federal Government will import 250,000MT of wheat and 250,000MT of maize. The imported food commodities in their semi-processed state will target supplies to the small-scale processors and millers across the country.”
Kyari explained that the advancement plan was an initiative of President Bola Tinubu to bring about food security and economic stability to Nigeria.
He noted that over the past several months, “we have all been witnesses to the escalating cost of food items in all parts of the country. There is virtually no food item that has not had its price raised to a level higher than what a good many Nigerians can afford.”
The minister stated that the affordability crisis in our food security system had 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.
Nigerians have battled high food prices since the president announced the removal of petrol subsidies and also floated the naira so the value of the Nigerian currency can be determined by market forces in 2023.
Similarly, the rising cost of poultry products has made basic protein such as eggs unaffordable for many. An egg which was selling for N100 last year is currently sold for N200 and above, depending on its size.
The continuous increase in the prices of goods and services over the past year has made some farm owners close shops, while many farmers (both crops and livestock) have already cut down on their production amidst inflationary pressure, insecurity and extreme weather conditions ravaging rural communities.
“We have heard the cries of Nigeria 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.
“What in the past was regarded as common items such as yam, plantain, and potato now command excessively high figures and Nigerians are right to wonder how and why things are the way they are.
“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 stated.
He said agricultural production activities had been hampered in some parts of the country by several factors resulting in the inability of smallholder farmers to contribute optimally to the country’s food basket.
Many experts had in the past advocated a suspension of the restrictions placed on food importation in order to bridge the wide supply gaps.