The President of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has said that the decision by Nigeria’s government to allow massive food importation risks destroying the country’s agriculture. This follows the announcement by Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture Abubakar Kyari on July 10 that the Federal Government would suspend duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders, for 150 days. This is coming on the heels of Nigeria’s inflation rate surging to a new peak, reaching 34.19% in June 2024, a figure that carries significant implications for the economy, according to the National Bureau of State Statistics (NBS). The NBS data reveals a significant surge in the inflation rate, with a 0.24 percentage point increase compared to May 2024, underscoring the gravity of the situation.
“In June 2024, the headline inflation rate increased to 34.19% relative to the May 2024 headline inflation rate, which was 33.95%. Looking at the movement, the June 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24% points when compared to the May 2024 headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.40% points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2023, which was 22.79%,” the NBS said in its Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI released by the NBS on Monday, July 15, measures the average change over time in the prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the year-on-year headline inflation rate saw a significant increase in June 2024 compared to June 2023. On a monthly basis, the headline inflation rate for June 2024 was 2.31%, an increase of 0.17% from the 2.14% recorded in May 2024. “This means that in the month of June 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2024,” the agency said.As anticipated, food inflation increased in June 2024 compared to the rate observed in May 2024. “On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in June 2024 was 2.55%, which shows a 0.26% increase compared to the rate recorded in May 2024 (2.28%),” the CPI report read. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the recent increase in prices has been driven by higher average costs for food items like groundnut oil, palm oil (classified under oils & fats), water yam, cocoyam, cassava (classified under potatoes, yams & other tubers), tobacco, fresh catfish, croaker, fresh mudfish, and snail (classified under fish).
In response to the soaring prices of essential commodities, the Federal Government has embarked measures to tackle the issue. Recently, it suspended duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through the country’s land and sea borders for a period of 150 days. Additionally, the government has taken a leading role in addressing the food crisis. It approved the procurement of 2,000 tractors and 1, 200 trailers and established a committee to find solutions to the issue. Experts have cited insecurity, lack of equipment, and other issues as significant challenges hindering food production in Nigeria. “Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing,” Adesina told African Primates of the Anglican Church at a Retreat in Abuja, Nigeria. He warned that the policy could undermine all the hard work and private investments that have gone into Nigeria’s agriculture sector. “Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilise prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilise food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilise the Naira,” said the African Development Bank president. “Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity,” he said, “Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation.” Speaking on the theme ‘Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church’, Adesina said Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning, “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.”
Price pressures have been spurred by policies implemented by President Bola Tinubu, chiefly slashing petrol and electricity subsidies and devaluing the naira currency twice within a year. The reforms have hurt the poor and left millions grappling with the worst cost of living in decades. Labour unions met with Tinubu last week to push for a new minimum wage after suspending an indefinite strike last month. Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to be the biggest contributor to inflation in June. Food inflation rose to 40.87% from 40.66% the previous month. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso has said the bank will do whatever is necessary to tame inflation.
