The Minister of State for Agriculture, Aliyu Abdullahi, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is working to address the high cost of food prices in the country.
The minister stated this on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s food inflation rate stood alarmingly high at 40.1% in March 2024, pushing the prices of essential commodities beyond the reach of millions of Nigerians.
Speaking during the programme, Abdullahi admitted that there is food insecurity in the country but assured Nigerians that the government is addressing the situation.
The minister added that the prices of commodities will soon come down as a result of several programmes and interventions by the Federal Government.
He said, “You will see a lot of programmes trying to dampen [reduce prices] the situation.
“Agriculture has a time frame. Now, a lot of production is ongoing. We are in the rainy season and if you look at the fields, there is a lot of cropping going on. Those croppings are not food.
“They will only translate to food after three months. So, until then, this story you are talking about will continue.”
The minister added that the country had, in the past, relied more on rainy-season farming and needed to take the dry season more seriously.
“We realised over the past few years that we have not been taking our dry season agriculture seriously,” he added.
