FG Urges CRIN,Other Research Institutions Align With Tinubu’s Food Security Agenda As Experts Identify Why Food Scarcity Lingers

 

FG Urges CRIN,Other Research Institutions  Align  With Tinubu’s Food Security Agenda As Experts Identify Why Food Scarcity Lingers 

Agricultural Research Institutions has been advised to annex all the other sectors of agriculture to address the urgent food scarcity and insecurities in the country. 

The Hon. Minister for agriculture and natural development Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar dropped this hint during the 2023/24 in-house research reports of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN). 

Represented by Prof. Garuba Hamidu Sharubutu from the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria  insists that high cost of fertilizers, manpower and high cost of renting farm equipment remain key factors why food is not sufficient in the country. 

The Federal Government however urged researchers and institutes in the agricultural sector to align their research with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on food security in order to have enough food to feed Nigerians.

‘’Now, when Mr. President was declaring a state of emergency on food security, the journalists would take note of the fact that he said that he was going to look at the issue of commodity bonds and commodity bonds cannot exist without commodity associations.

‘’Cocoa research institute has one of the largest mandate crops as listed and so the expectation there is that we should see a more organized commodity association sponsored and directed by the cocoa research institute..

‘’The instruction I had on my way, which I read, is that for this year’s submission by the Honorable Minister, all the agricultural research institutes, including University of Agriculture, Research Institutes, as well as colleges, must present in pictorial terms what is the progress that has been made from January till date, and this is the information that I have to carry back.

‘’In that case, I would like to have shots of the various commodity associations, because it is only a pictorial testimony of the presence of the commodity association here that will convince the Honorable Minister, and by implication, Mr. President, that we are carrying our farmers along.

‘’This year’s preparation for 2025 project is strictly going to be performance-based. So I want to believe that our researchers will be able to package well-meaning programme that will centre  on the agenda of Mr. President, so that collectively, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of State will be able to make a better presentation for the purpose of proper funding’’.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of CRIN, Dr. Patrick Adebola, said the programme  was to review research of the organisation’s faculty and the desirability for funding  in order to serve farmers effectively for higher yields. 

Dr Adebola also urged the Federal Government to urgently ensure that Nigeria becomes one of the recognised countries in the production of cocoa through the United Nations before it becomes a doom for our farmers who are currently smiling to the banks. 

He however stated that the proposal will be tabled before the Hon. Minister in their committees next meeting with the Minister. 

" It is high time for the country to have a body that will regulate the production of cocoa" he said. 

In a keynote address, Dr. Oluyemisi Shittu of Johnvents Industries limited, alerted Nigerians to the crisis in cocoa production. Shittu  urged Nigeria to learn from what happened to Ivory Coast in cocoa production and take drastic steps before the crisis goes out of hands.  She called for collaboration between CRIN  and industry players.

Dr. Oluyemisi Shitu in her keynote address at the event with the theme Varietal Development of Cocoa, Kola, Coffee, Cashew and Tea for sustainable Circular Economic Growth In Nigeria disclosed the need to declare an emergency in the cocoa production sector based on the hike in the price of cocoa from 1.3 million naira to 13 million naira within one year. 

" In the face of this crisis,  the imperative for action has never been pressing, we are the custodians of Nigeria cocoa heritage and must rise to the occasion with resolve and ingenuity. CRIN is endowed with with a rich legacy of scientific excellence and institutional expertise, hence, heed the call to lead the charge in confronting these threats. CRIN must seize the moment to reaffirm Nigeria's  position as a global leader in cocoa innovation and production" she stated. 

Dr. Joseph Minari of University of Lagos who delivered the first keynote address urged researchers not to depend on the annual Federal Government research grants but to seek for more foreign grants that will boost their records  took the researchers on the fundamentals of grant writing.

"Let me be sincere with you there is no agency that put in place grants and will not want something in returns, therefore you need to package your proposal in such a way that will attract them"

He also disclosed that the researchers need to work on their curriculum vitae so as to attract the grants donor. 


------Kunle Bakare 



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