Food prices will drop next year, if... – Minister

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has said that prices of food will come down as low as possible by this time next year if the country gets the right seeds to produce more food.

Senator Lokpobiri stated this yesterday in Sheda, Gwagwalada Area council of the Federal capital Territory, during a facility tour of the National Agricultural Seed Council.

“In Nigeria today, the reason food prices are high is because we’re not producing enough. Our objective is to ensure that by this time next year, the prices of food are brought down as low as possible; and that can only be possible if we have the right varieties of seeds,” the minister said.

The minister said Nigeria supplies 70 per cent of the seeds used in West Africa, adding that food security begins with quality seeds for the farmers.

He stressed that the goal of the Buhari administration was to ensure the nation feeds itself within the shortest possible time, adding that the nation can longer afford the import bill of $23 billion annually on stable food.

He called on the council to seek sustainable partnership with the private sector in order to build a vibrant seed industry in the country because according to the minister, there is a serious drop in the country’s revenue.

Earlier, the Director-general of the National Agricultural Seed Council, Dr. Philip Ojo told the minister that the country’s seed council, which was created in 1992, is the best in West Africa, stressing that many seed companies have shown interest in the country’s seed industry.