WFD: Peter Obi’s plan to combat food insecurity if elected president

According to Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s nominee for president, proper investments in agriculture can solve the nation’s problems with food inflation and insecurity.

This was said by Mr. Obi in his greeting for World Food Day 2022, which will be observed on October 16, 2022.

The country’s skyrocketing food prices, according to the former governor of Anambra, were caused by what he called the negligence of the agricultural sector.

He claimed that the present food inflation was a result of the lack of security that prevented farmers from going to their farms and engaging in food production.

Fighting insecurity would be his first concern if elected president in 2023, according to Mr. Obi. He pointed out that safeguarding the country was a crucial prerequisite for real development, particularly enormous food production.

He asserted that if the nation is secure, farmers will return to their farms, increase production of food and agricultural goods, and reduce food inflation.

According to him, an excessive reliance on oil had caused the government to focus less on and invest less in agriculture, which led to low production and high prices.

Nigeria’s greatest advantage, according to Mr. Obi, is its huge arable land, particularly in the northern half of the nation.

Despite having a landmass of 70,900 km2, Borno State has uncultivated regions that do not provide anything productive to the nation.

“The Sambisa Forest, a massive agricultural area in Borno State, is twice as large as Israel, which is just approximately 22,000 km2.

“Israel produces enough food for its citizens and for export, whilst Nigeria rarely has enough food to feed its citizens.

“Borno State is twice as big as the Netherlands, which has a land area of around 33,000 km2 (excluding ocean).

Nigeria, with a land area of 923,770 km2, cannot yet feed itself since we depend on the now-dwindling oil revenues, he claimed. In contrast, the Netherlands sold agricultural products worth $120 billion in 2021.

Mr. Obi expressed confidence that Nigeria will transition from consumption to production under his leadership and that the country would produce enough food with the correct agricultural investments.