Kabir Ibrahim
Competitive food production, youth involvement in agriculture, technology adoption and mobilization of resources in the agro-industrial industry were proposed as a means of stopping high bills for food imports and smuggling.
The Presidents of the Birds Association of Nigeria (PAN), Ezekiel Ibrahim Mom and the Association of All Farmers of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr. Kabir Ibrahim, reported this in their goodwill messages to the Nigerians on the 58th anniversary of independence.
“Our main task now is self-sufficiency in poultry production and competitiveness. We work with associations of soybean and corn producers, because you cannot talk about the self-sufficiency of poultry without input supplies, ”said the PAN boss. He advised Nigerians to believe in their ability as people, saying: “We have the capacity and capabilities. There is no doubt about it. There are human resources and material resources ”.
He argued that no part of the country was safe at the moment, urging the government to work to restore and preserve the safety of life and property. Mom also expressed optimism that if Nigeria produces food on a competitive basis, history will be smuggling chicken or food into the country.
AFAN President Ibrahim said food smuggling should be limited by deploying honest customs officials through a special anti-smuggling team for people at the borders using complex resources, including observation helicopters and patrol cars.
To reduce food import bills, he proposed that farmers be empowered in terms of offering improved subsidized resources and marketing information. However, he argued that the cost of importing rice and sugar was reduced by the efforts of the current administration, urging the government to do more.
Likewise, Mom advised young people to go for chicken production, since most of them are interested in investments that would bring in income as quickly as possible. “In the production of chicken, you have your income and capital in seven weeks. So why aren't young people involved in the production of poultry (chicken)?
Confirming the rapid return rate, the CEO of CHI Farms, Dr. Tunji Olaitan, said that broilers, if they eat well in good conditions, are processed into chicken between six and eight weeks of day-old chickens. Consequently, chicken production is one of the fastest growing agribusiness. The PAN boss offered Nigeria to help its neighbors by producing food in abundance and competitively so that developed economies would not use them as burial grounds. He argued that the dumping of imported products in these countries would stop if there was no existing market in Nigeria.
Most of these smuggled products are not produced in the Republic of Benin or Ghana, but from outside Africa. Why not encourage our neighbors to also begin agricultural development to ensure food security? Most of our neighbors depend on Nigeria for the sale of imported goods. We have a market. We must help them ourselves: “If we are competitive, they will have no place to sell, and they will have to go to production,” he said.
Chairman Oyo AFAN, Mr. Olumide Iinla, said that providing farmers with resources and curbing the invasions of pastoralists in agricultural land would reduce imports and smuggle food. He specifically appealed to the state government in particular, and the federal government helped state farmers in cleaning the bushes. Bulldozers and other earthmoving equipment would need to clear forests for increased food production, he said.
