Racoon:
With the widespread food insecurity, galloping inflation and menace of bandits/fulani/BH terrorists hampering agricultural productivity?

Why not declared such state of emergency on health( stop foreign tourism), economy, bogous cost of governance, senseless borrowings, unviable government ministries(merging as many as possible), widespread deteriorating insecurity, bandits/Fulanis/ Simon-Ekpa led IPOB among many critical sectors of our national life?

blamingthedevil:


https://www.channelstv.com/2023/07/13/breaking-tinubu-declares-state-of-emergency-on-food-security/

Ayomivic:
This is welcome development . We thank our amiable president for thIs but we must not behave as if we don't understand the problem of Nigeria before. We no the problem of Nigeria with is corruption . Is not that the past government had not made an effort before to see all these work but their efforts were sabotage by the gullible civil servants directors and that is the reason I am saying President Tinubu should made a punishment for violating or diverting all the matter he signed into law and announced it along the law he made.

What happens in the past to the efforts made on food security by past administration .

The fertilizers and the grains given to the agric sectors . All the materials provided by Government to give freely to the farmer were not give to the farmer in time but kept in the store fr so long and later sold to the buyer who then sold it to the famer in higher prices even with the inscription that stated that it was from Federal Government of Nigeria and NOT FOR SALE is boldly written on the goods yet it was sold to the market sellers and not given to targeted famers..

What plans did Tinubu Administration put in place to prevent this from repeating itself? Stealing and corruption is in blood of some Nigerians in higher post

CodeTemplar:
You keep over blowing this comparative advantage concept beyond limits as if it is all there is to guarantying food. As it stands today, Nigeria never had the comparative advantage of wheat production over Ukraine or Russia butghe war has made wheat so profitable to be cultivated in Nigeria. Wheat flout has more than doubled in prices and it will be foolish to not keep a focus on wheat cultivation because we are not the cheapest grower of wheat.

Yam is another interesting crop. We are world's number one producer but of recent have been threatened by Ghana, Côte D'voire and far away Japan because our output per hectare is laughable. We have the comparative advantage in yam productuon but aren't achieving 20% of our potential in yam cultivation.
Poor seedling, outdated manual heap methods, diseases, pests, and storage hell remain huge challenges still. Continuing in our outdated yam cultivation will likely keep us as world number one producer and still hungry.

AjaoEstater:


Heck we are now #1 rice producer in the whole of africa.

oonyeoma50:

Tinubu is the best thing that has ever happened to Nigeria, he is a god sent.
We the good people of Nigeria urge Tinubu to increase the volume of whatever he is doing to Nigerians, we love it, don't listen to anybody.

God bless president Tinubu,
God bless federal republic of Nigeria

IbeOkehie:


No, it's a terrible policy path that the government has set off on. All you have to do is look at the EVIDENCE of other initiatives where government took control of other sectors. It always starts off nice and clean, but over time CORRUPTION, inefficiency and scarcity take over. Government, especially NATIONAL or FEDERAL governments, NEVER perform as well as private investors and markets in ANY country for the simple reasons that NATIONAL or FEDERAL governments are monopolies, they have no competition and no need to please the customer or pursue quality that leads to PROFIT.

Go review the history of EDUCATION in Nigeria. Universities in Nigeria used to be owned by the Regional or State governments and the elementary and secondary schools were private, mainly owned by religious groups and individuals. In 1975 the government of Murtala Mohammed decreed the government take over of schools, Federal Government took over Universities and State government took over elementary and secondary schools. I know schools in my hometown that were PRIVATE and taken by government with no compensation.

Go chart the performance of the education sector in Nigeria. Talk to anyone old enough about the Universities in Nigeria in the 1960's and 70's, let them tell you about secondary school education back then. When Saudi Princes used to seek treatment at University of Ibadan Hospital. Compare it to the mess in the sector today, ALL government owned schools are in shambles, performance, excellence and output has definitely declined since 1975. And of course we know Federal Universities are cesspits of CORRUPTION despite all efforts to fight it.

Has anyone even asked WHY the Commodity Boards were abolished in 1986? Go look at a chart of cocoa production around that time and then after the Cocoa Board was abolished. It's CRAZY that anyone is trying to revive a government institution that's been tried and it FAILED, it's similar to the effort to revive Nigeria Airways. Please give me ONE single Federal Government owned commercial institution that is productive, efficient and fulfilling the goals for which it was established or doing better than a private sector equivalent...just ONE....you can't do it.

The solution to raising food production in Nigeria is to encourage PRIVATE investment by getting the government to relinquish control of factors that affect food production....such as LAND and fertilizers, the government needs to abolish the Land Use Act and allow private individuals to own land. Then big businesses will be comfortable investing substantial capital without fear the land can be seized by government. Government involvement in fertilizer distribution needs to be cancelled. It serves no good purpose other than CORRUPTION.

About CORRUPTION that you identified as the major problem of Nigeria, well you can be sure that it will NEVER be eradicated. Government ownership and control only makes corruption easier. Think about this and spread the word - National Commodity Board is a disastrous idea.

Thanks!

AjaoEstater:


It will take Ghana and Ivory Coast a trillion years to surpass Nigeria as largest producer of yam (even if we have some crazy crisis in future) looking at wikipedia article on yam (Nigeria- 50m; Ghana- 8m; Ivory Coast- 7m). Heck we are now #1 rice producer in the whole of africa.

wwwtortoise:


I just kept nodding all through while reading this.
Wish I followed you earlier on this forum to broaden my perspective and gain fresh insights.

Thanks nwanne mmadu !

CodeTemplar:

@underlined, you are a clown. Walahi.


Comparative advantage doesn't guaranty you will always be best serves with the alternative from outside. It only means the one outside is easier to produce compared to yours.

grandstar:


You again by trying to be rude expose your ignorance.

Where I got the so-called underlined text was from the highly respected Economist" magazine and not from some disused Suya paper.

The food basket of the nation, the North, is where you find the worst cases of chronic malnutrition.

The times Nigerians ate best was in the 1970s when petrodollars made it cheaper to import food than to grow it locally.

The wealthy Gulf Arab states which are net importers of food are well fed. Hong Kong which imports 99% of its food have well fed people.

Comparative advantage in a certain industry does not last forever. Issues such as wage increases, a leaner and meaner competitor in the market, export subsidies and so forth that change things.

grandstar:
Due to my free market leanings, I don't feel too good about this.

"Food security" usually entails the country achieves "self sufficiency" in food it has no comparative advantage in like rice. This will mean the citizenry pay more for rice than it otherwise should. Since the primary cause of hunger isn't a lack of food but a lack of money, higher food prices does not help the poor.

Rather government should focus on food the nation has comparative advantage in and liberalizes imports of the others.

If the attention given to rice over the past 10 years was applied to foods the nation has comparative advantage in, I won't be surprised if earnings from food exports touch $10bn. Shea butter alone can earn the country $2bn. Cashew over $1bn and the list goes on.

AjaoEstater:


It will take Ghana and Ivory Coast a trillion years to surpass Nigeria as largest producer of yam (even if we have some crazy crisis in future) looking at wikipedia article on yam (Nigeria- 50m; Ghana- 8m; Ivory Coast- 7m). Heck we are now #1 rice producer in the whole of africa.

CodeTemplar:
You agreed with nonsense. I am sure 20 years from now petrol subsidy will be labelled "tried and it FAILED" when it was in fact the lack of will to tackle corruption bedeviling it that made it a burden too heavy for the govt to bear.

You are easily swayed by irrelevant data and that's what the poster you referring to specializes in. Long epistles with accurate date but malicious interpretation.

CodeTemplar:
some of the countries you touting as having comparative advantage in are just more aggressive with mechanised and modified farming. They use machines and adopt high yielding seedlings. That's the major difference. China forced their comparative advantage to emerge in rice production through this same method. Japan is going it with yam. China may do it also with tigernut because their major soybean oil sellers, USA has been proving difficult.

[b]Like you guys forced subsidy removal down peoples throat without dealing with why it was failing - corruption, [/b]you guys are mouthing this comparative advantage thing ignorantly as if open borders put the money to purchase imported goods in people's pocket. Don't forget it will also mean local producers closing shop. Before Dangote started sugar refining, Sudan was a huge concern because they clearly could beat any price Dangote could eve achieve. But today, people are gainfully employed in the sugar refining value chain. If OBJ's govt had embraced importation over slightly costlier local production, those employed in local sugar refining couldnt all be employed.
Let me challenge you. Mention five crops we have a superior competitive edge in for a start.

IbeOkehie:


CORRUPTION CAN NEVER BE ERADICATED in government controlled markets. I asked before, show me a single government company or program in Nigeria that has performed better than a PRIVATE equivalent. Go ahead and tell us.


Cheers!

MS247:
Fulani herdsmen better have sense

Tinubu made a NorthCentral man Chief of Army Staff for a reason

CodeTemplar:
I posed mine to you first. Five crop we have comparative advantages in their cultivation and production.

mdntiri:

Yes Nigeria is biggest producer of yam BUT Ghana is the BIGGEST EXPORTER of yam

IbeOkehie:


I wonder why rice is so expensive then? The price has tripled or quadrupled since 2011. Truth is Nigeria needs a HOLISTIC pivot to free markets. Stop import bans, float the naira, abolish all subsidies, institute property rights and make it illegal for government to set any prices for any goods and services, withdraw government ownership or at least control of any commercial entity or companies, reduce taxes. These are the PROVEN elements of economic growth.

What happened to this project - has anyone seen their rice in Nigeria lately?

https://guardian.ng/features/why-lake-rice-disappeared-from-lagos/

Whatever is the state of rice production in Nigeria, as long as government is the major driver it will NEVER be beneficial to the populace. Government never does anything right is the basic issue, as long as Nigerians keep calling on government to help them they will continue to suffer. Government is the problem, not the solution.

Good Luck to Nigeria.

AjaoEstater:


source because it would have been on wiki plus Niferia is to known for yam and cassava there is a whole article dedicated to both "Yam in Nigeria", "Cassava in Nigeria" (the only country in the world to get articles on food products that it dominant in by a trillion miles)

mdntiri:

Go here or type yam exports in Ghana or who is the biggest yam exporter in the world.
[url]https://shippers.org.gh/index.php/ntes-2021-report-ghana-leads-yam-export-globally/#:~:text=The%20value%20of%20yam%20exports,in%20world%20export%20of%20yams.[/url]

MS247:
Fulani herdsmen better have sense

Tinubu made a NorthCentral man Chief of Army Staff for a reason

AjaoEstater:


They buy our yams then export it 😂😁😉

I will check it in a while. Thank you.

Note: just checked it and it's a Ghanaian website so it likely a propaganda or fake news since it's not NGO, UN or third party like wikipedia 😂😂😂

CodeTemplar:
I posed mine to you first. Five crop we have comparative advantages in their cultivation and production.

mdntiri:

It's common knowledge that Ghana's the leading EXPORTER of yam in the world. Overtaking Jamaica. Nigeria's the largest producer of fresh yams in the world. I'm looking for a good UN source to give you. But munch on this old vanguard report for now
https://guardian.ng/features/agro-care/fg-raises-concern-as-ghana-increases-yam-export/

IbeOkehie:


No, it's a terrible policy path that the government has set off on. All you have to do is look at the EVIDENCE of other initiatives where government took control of other sectors. It always starts off nice and clean, but over time CORRUPTION, inefficiency and scarcity take over. Government, especially NATIONAL or FEDERAL governments, NEVER perform as well as private investors and markets in ANY country for the simple reasons that NATIONAL or FEDERAL governments are monopolies, they have no competition and no need to please the customer or pursue quality that leads to PROFIT.

Go review the history of EDUCATION in Nigeria. Universities in Nigeria used to be owned by the Regional or State governments and the elementary and secondary schools were private, mainly owned by religious groups and individuals. In 1975 the government of Murtala Mohammed decreed the government take over of schools, Federal Government took over Universities and State government took over elementary and secondary schools. I know schools in my hometown that were PRIVATE and taken by government with no compensation.

Go chart the performance of the education sector in Nigeria. Talk to anyone old enough about the Universities in Nigeria in the 1960's and 70's, let them tell you about secondary school education back then. When Saudi Princes used to seek treatment at University of Ibadan Hospital. Compare it to the mess in the sector today, ALL government owned schools are in shambles, performance, excellence and output has definitely declined since 1975. And of course we know Federal Universities are cesspits of CORRUPTION despite all efforts to fight it.

Has anyone even asked WHY the Commodity Boards were abolished in 1986? Go look at a chart of cocoa production around that time and then after the Cocoa Board was abolished. It's CRAZY that anyone is trying to revive a government institution that's been tried and it FAILED, it's similar to the effort to revive Nigeria Airways. Please give me ONE single Federal Government owned commercial institution that is productive, efficient and fulfilling the goals for which it was established or doing better than a private sector equivalent...just ONE....you can't do it.

The solution to raising food production in Nigeria is to encourage PRIVATE investment by getting the government to relinquish control of factors that affect food production....such as LAND and fertilizers, the government needs to abolish the Land Use Act and allow private individuals to own land. Then big businesses will be comfortable investing substantial capital without fear the land can be seized by government. Government involvement in fertilizer distribution needs to be cancelled. It serves no good purpose other than CORRUPTION.

About CORRUPTION that you identified as the major problem of Nigeria, well you can be sure that it will NEVER be eradicated. Government ownership and control only makes corruption easier. Think about this and spread the word - National Commodity Board is a disastrous idea.

Thanks!