The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has associated the present food scarcity in the nation and the increasing cost of food to the smuggling of food across Nigerian borders and the Naira redesign policy.

The minister, who spoke while appearing in the Sectoral debate organised by the House of Representatives, also identified flooding which destroyed farmland across the country as another impediment to food security in the country. He said the president has directed the Ministry and all those responsible to do everything possible to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians by ensuring enough grains are made available to the people

The Minister however said that currently, about 5000 tractors are working in Nigeria and the country should have 72,000 functional tractors to meet the growing needs of Nigerians adding that the Ministry has signed a MoU with a manufacturer to supply 2000 tractors annually for the next five years.

The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service Bashir Adeniyi said the service have commenced the sale of seized food items to vulnerable Nigerians to address hunger across the country,

The Customs boss also added that,the service has arrested about 120 trucks smuggling food items from Nigeria to other countries adding that, the president has given a directive that the arrested trucks be diverted to the local markets in the areas where they were arrested in order to force down the process of grains and other food items.

Earlier in his remarks,the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives,Hon Benjamin Kalu said,given the pressing issue of enhancing food security and agricultural productivity within the country,Nigeria,must acknowledge the growing concern surrounding food insecurity despite the vast agricultural resources at the disposal, including over 80 million arable hectares,
although only 34 million arable hectares are actively being cultivated.

He said, collective efforts must focus on addressing both demand and supply factors, along with the persistent challenge of food price inflation.