- The Federal Government says it is committed to ensuring that the over 30 strategic grains reserves across the country are effectively managed to ensure food safety for the nation.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono,reassured Nigerian when he visited the Strategic Grains Reserve in Gusau, Zamfara.
Nanono who expressed satisfaction with the facility in Gusau,said it was part of efforts to ensure sustainable food security for the country.
According to him,him, the various Federal government interventions areaimed at mopping grains during glut had placed the country in a comfortable platform to meet the needs of people during scarcity.
He noted that the exercise had been stabilised food prices and prevented farmers from incurring debt sequel to glut.
The minister promised that government would embark on more interventions to ensure adequate food for Nigerians as well as those of other neighbouring countries.
He said:“We are still mopping up 2018 and 2019 excess grains and this year from all indication, we have bumper harvest.
“So, we are going to look at the situation and if it warrants us intervening again, we will to stabilise the prices at the farm gate and the market.
“The basis for these silos is nothing but food security which is very essential for security and price stability, for the benefit of the consumers and producers of these commodities.
“These silos are not only for us. You know Nigeria is a big country and it has brothers and sisters around.’’
He said ensuring food security was so crucial to Nigeria, to enable the nation feed its citizens and those of neighbouring countries.
“Nigeria is biggest and probably the richest in the West African Sub-region. “We have about 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the total growth domestic product and that is no joke.
“If agriculture is well positioned, you can imagine the buffer zone that we will create for people to come.
Briefing the minister earlier,Dr Sule Haruna, Director of Food and Strategic Reserve, in the ministry, said the reserve in Gusau was automated to ensure transparency and accountability.
Haruna said the reserve was one of the six reserves kept after the concession of some, over the years.
“The silo facility here is equipped with standard 15 meter weigh-bridge of universal standard.
“It is an automated system and one of the advantages of the new generation silos over the old ones is that, if any anything funny is happening, it will indicate.
“This is a 100,000 metric tonne capacity silo with dryers and automated cleaner, what we have here is sorghum and maize. If you go to other sites, you will see millet, garri and other crops.
“Under the 2018 intervention, we have successfully mopped up 23,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains, mainly sorghum and maize.
“Out of this 23,000 metric tonnes, we have about 9,000 for maize and sorghum, 14,000 in the ongoing Guarantee Minimum Price (GMP) operation.
“We are expected to receive 10,000 here and as at today we have received about 4000.
He said that the Federal Government had mopped almost 54,000 metric tonnes of grains from the market.
