By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA – AS food prices hit the roof, farmers under the Community Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria, COMAFAS, weekend, sought President Bola Tinubu’s intervention ahead of 2023 dry season planting in line with the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda.
The farmers spoke through the Founder, COMAFAS, Dr Austine Maduka, who commended Tinubu’s passion and declaration of emergency on food security said there is hope for Nigerian farmers and food production.
Maduka pointed out that basically the support farmers want from the President are not far-fetched, which include fertilizers, improved seeds, mechanization and grants.
Meanwhile, he acknowledged that the Tinubu-led administration has also gone out to ensure food production is continued all year round, which the smallholder farmers are pivotal and catalytic to actualize his administration’s policies, programmes and projects in the agricultural sector.
He also urged the President on dealing directly with farmers with the correct data and evidence of farmers along various value chains, thereby they are given the right support, and that would make Nigeria self-sufficient in most of the food produced and secured.
According to him, recently, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, granted the sum of $77,942 to COMAFAS to train 150 youth in poultry and fish farming in FCT and Bauchi State with 30 per cent female representation.
The training has since begun with 150 youth trained in order to ensure availability of meat, diverse foods, and impart relevant skills to domesticate sustainable strategies toward poverty reduction in the country.
He said: “We thank the President Bola Tinubu for on this occasion of the country’s 63rd Independence anniversary.
“As farmers we believe that the country can feed itself if we are supported to produce more.
“As we are entering the dry season farming, we call on President Tinubu to support us with inputs like fertilizers, improved seeds, mechanization and grants to enable us produce more food.
“We are aware of the recent declaration of emergency on food security by our President, and we are willing to work with him to achieve his dream of a food secured Nigeria. It is achievable with the right support for farmer.
“We also want our President to look into the distribution process of the recently released palliatives because none of our members have benefitted from the palliatives.”
However, he called on the President to help with giving order to the military to clear the forests and farms bandits and terrorists have transformed into their safe haven, which will enable farmers return to their farms with safety while they cultivate their crops without fear of being kidnapped or killed.
Meanwhile,he commended also the President over directives to anti-graft agencies to recover the monies embezzled via Anchor Borrowers Programme implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Source: Vanguard
