The federal government, led by Abubakar Kyari, says it will sustain recent food price declines by reducing input costs, improving storage infrastructure and boosting credit access for farmers.
The federal government yesterday announced a comprehensive plan to sustain the recent nationwide decline in food prices, according to Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari.
Kyari highlighted that headline inflation fell from 20.12 per cent in August to 18.02 per cent in September, marking the sixth consecutive monthly drop. He attributed that trend to improved food supply and said the government is now focusing on reducing the high cost of agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, irrigation and fuel.
“We are creating mechanisms that will allow farmers access to credit and, at the same time, cheaper products for farming,” he said. In addition to staple crops, the interventions will extend to produce such as onions, tomatoes and peppers, he added.
On post-harvest loss reduction, Kyari announced a shift away from large urban silos toward community-based storage facilities, saying: “We have made a legacy project on post-harvest losses which includes storage at the community level, not the big silos in urban areas. About 85 percent of our new storage facilities will be located in rural communities to replace the old, inefficient silos.”
The initiatives are backed by the New Growth Infrastructure Fund and the National Agriculture Development Fund, and the ministry aims to achieve further stability and affordability by 2026.