Food as we all know is one of the basic necessities of life, adequacy of food is the reason why the rich and the poor sleep in comfort; therefore without food all would definitely perish.
Before one could get raw food commodities, farmers residing in different geographical areas must till the soil, make ridges, plant the seeds, apply fertilizers, dig out unwanted grasses, harvest the crops, thrash and put them in sacks. Sadly, all these efforts go in vain as farmers are no longer enjoying the fruits of their hard work due to less priority given to agriculture by governments. Nigeria in the past relied on agriculture as major source of its income, the discovery of crude oil in 1956 made government focuse more on it while giving less to agriculture.
Insecurity is one of the major factors that make farmers lose interest in farming; their enthusiasm fade on daily basis as things get worse. Many are kidnapped on their way to farms, others amidst farm work while several others that refused to be kidnaped are killed instantly.
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The skyrocketing prices of fertilizer, simple farming tools and herbicides that eliminate weed are no longer affordable to small scale farmers.
Security should be provided in nooks and crannies, no farmer can risk his or her life by going to the farm and getting killed; maximum security to help farmers cultivate crops without fear of bandits, insurgents or criminals. Also, government should purchase expensive farming implements like tractors, harvesting machines and subsidize them for farmers in towns and in inaccessible areas; doing that would make them boost their farming activities thereby curbing food insecurity. Frequent supervision by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture is important to ensure youth use all farming items received such as fertilizers, seeds and money; those that are found diverting them should be punished to serve as lesson to others.
By: Mukhtar Garba Kobi
garbakobim@gmail.com
and then