With the rainy season underway, the Nigerian Army has deployed troops across several northern states to safeguard farmers.
Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, Director of Defence Media Operations, announced that the deployment is focused particularly on the North West and North Central regions.
He stated that this initiative has facilitated farmers’ access to their lands, ensuring a smooth planting season aimed at a bountiful harvest.
This deployment comes amid Nigeria’s struggle with food shortages, which have exacerbated food inflation, currently exceeding 40 percent according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Nigeria’s inflation rate reached a new peak of 34.19 percent in June 2024, before decreasing slightly to 33.40 percent in July, based on data from the NBS Consumer Price Index.
40.8% Food Inflation
As expected, there was also a rise in food inflation.
Giving a breakdown, the NBS stated, “The food inflation rate in June 2024 was 40.87 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 15.62 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in June 2023 (25.25 per cent).
“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of the following items: millet whole grain, garri, guinea corn, etc (bread and cereals class), yam, water yam, cocoyam (potatoes, yam and other tubers class), groundnut oil, palm oil, etc (oil and fats class) and catfish dried, dried, etc.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in June 2024 was 2.55 per cent which shows a 0.26 per cent increase compared to the rate recorded in May 2024 (2.28 per cent)”
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending in June 2024 was 35.35 percent, marking an 11.31 percentage point increase from the rate recorded in June 2023.
The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile agricultural products and energy, was 27.40 percent in June 2024, up 7.34 percentage points from the 20.06 percent rate in June 2023.
The NBS attributed the year-on-year rise in food inflation to increases in the prices of various items, including millet whole grain, garri, guinea corn (bread and cereals category), yam, water yam, coco yam (potatoes, yam, and other tubers category), groundnut oil, palm oil (oils and fats category), and dried catfish, dried fish-sardines, mudfish (fish category).
It said, “The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending June stood at 35.35 per cent, which was an 11.31 per cent point increase from the average annual rate of change in June 2023 which was 24.03 per cent.”
Edo Records Highest
The NBS data revealed that on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Edo (47.34 percent), Kogi (46.37 percent), and Cross River (45.28 percent). Conversely, Nasarawa (34.31 percent), Bauchi (34.78 percent), and Adamawa (35.96 percent) experienced the slowest increase in food inflation.
On a month-on-month basis, food inflation in June 2024 was highest in Yobe (4.75 percent), Adamawa (4.74 percent), and Taraba (4.12 percent). In contrast, Nasarawa (0.14 percent), Kano (0.96 percent), and Lagos (1.25 percent) saw the slowest rises.
Experts have attributed the challenges in food production in Nigeria to factors such as insecurity, lack of equipment, and other issues.
Govt Moves To Curb Crisis
In response to the surging prices of essential commodities, the Federal Government has introduced several measures to tackle the issue.
Recently, the government suspended duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas through both land and sea borders for a period of 150 days.
Additionally, the government has approved the acquisition of 2,000 tractors and 1,200 trailers and established a committee tasked with proposing solutions to the nation’s food crisis.