Gilbert Ekugbe
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has lamented the high level of insecurity in the North-east, noting that the situation is having a profound impact on food production.
The President of LCCI, Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, at a press briefing on the state of the nation, said many farmlands across the country have been destroyed with a consequent impact on food production and security.
Mabogunje said that “the chamber notes with serious concerns the worsening security situation in the country. It is scary that banditry attacks, abduction, herders-farmers conflict, vandalism, and insurgency have become recurring incidences in Nigeria. Many households have lost their means of livelihood.”
She stated that agriculture demonstrated resilience in the second quarter amid heightening insecurity and lingering supply chain disruptions orchestrated by the poor state of roads, adding that the sector accounted for 23.78 per cent of overall GDP in real terms in Q2 2021.
She called on the need for the federal government to provide a holistic and dynamic review of the security architecture to address the seemingly worsening security situation in the country.
Although food inflation recorded a decline of 73bps, the highest increases were recorded in bread, cereals, milk, cheese, eggs, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers, meat, coffee, tea, and cocoa.
She added that the year-on-year moderation in prices was on account of base effects associated with high food prices in the corresponding month of 2020, stressing that the uptick across the major sub-indices affirms the persistence of the major inflationary drivers which includes insecurity in the northern and middle belt of the country and its consequent impact on agricultural activities; high cost of logistics on the back of higher domestic energy prices; lingering productivity challenges in the agricultural sector, leading to weak output outcomes and high cost of agricultural inputs and imported food items.
“Addressing the security crisis across the country is not only highly imperative but also very urgent. There is an urgent need for the Federal and state governments to show more commitment to the insecurity challenge considering its multidimensional impact on the economy,” she added.
She also emphasised the need to improve the agricultural value chain, particularly in key commodity products like cocoa, palm oil, and cashew to diversify the country’s export receipts. “We join the call on bank to support manufacturing initiatives that could achieve this objective,” she advised.
