Debo Adeniran: Nigeria Needs Fresh Ideas to Tackle Threats to Food Security

The last few years have particularly been challenging for Nigerians in terms of food availability and cost. Executive Director, R & A Farm Limited, Debo Adeniran, discusses the current food situation in the country and some of the measures his company is taking to support the government to tackle the challenges of food supply in the country. Oluchi Chibuzor brings the excerpts:

What is your assessment of the food supply situation in the country?

It is quite serious and should generate concern for all stakeholders. The country currently faces not less than 50 percent gap in the local production-local demand gap for grains and other staples. Prices are at unprecedented levels, levels that could not have been imagined even in war situations. We know because our company is there. Items like cassava and maize where Nigeria should have comparative advantage as one of the largest producers in the world are scarce for domestic consumption and industrial use because we cannot cultivate enough. The result is what we are seeing and so there is an urgent need for intervention by all stakeholders.

What is majorly responsible for this situation?

The desire by all of us to focus on quick and easy money provided by the oil and gas industry while neglecting what had always been the mainstay of our existence, which is agriculture. We probable never knew that the day of reckoning would come but it is here. And sincerely we haven’t seen anything yet if we don’t face the issue of agriculture squarely. At some point in the future, oil and gas will become less fashionable despite the focus of some major governments in the world to continue to drill, baby drill. But food will never become obsolete as long as the human society is in existence. We failed to give agriculture the desired priority, despite accounting for over 40 percent of our GDP. Now, we have to deal with the unfortunate consequences of this action by all of us.

How do you think the government can address the problem of food scarcity in Nigeria?

Governments at all levels, particularly the federal government, needs to come up with fresh ideas to address the problem of food security. In my opinion, this is about the most urgent challenge Nigerians today. Unfortunately, it is not a problem that can be treated in isolation. To address the problem of food, the government will have to address so many other problems like security, like infrastructure, like regulations like financing and so on. But they can take it one after the other. But a critical way forward could be to work directly with some big farmers and operators through a set of structured interventions that will include provisions of critical infrastructure in operation areas, long-term term quasi debt financing, focused security plans and waivers and concessions, all tied to a set of KPIs for the operators selected.

Tell us about R & A Farm?

R & A Farm is an integrated food system business focused on expanding access to indigenous healthy African foods by Africans within and outside the African continent. The company operates across the different value chain of the food system, including cultivation, aggregation, milling, processing, wholesale distribution, retailing and exports.

What’s the motivation behind setting up the business?

The promoters are people with deep background in the food value chain business. We noticed over time that despite considerable efforts being made by governments at different levels, the food scarcity problem just seems not to be going away. For what we call the major Nigerian staples like rice, beans, maize, garri, etc., there is at least forty percent shortage in local production. So inadvertently, Nigeria and indeed Africa cannot feed itself. So we have to keep importing to make up for the shortfall, depressing the economy and creating joblessness along the way. Unfortunately, agriculture seems to be one of the very few areas where Nigeria has comparative advantage. While sectors like technology, property development, financial services and so on sound trendy, they have very limited potential to create competitive advantage for our country at the moment, create jobs and lift many of our people out of poverty. So the R & A Farm concept is our intervention to help in addressing the food crisis.

What’s different about how you do your business compared to other operators in the food system sector?

We are very particular about the healthy and climate-friendly production system. Many literature on personal diets tend to focus on healthy consumption, which is good. In R & A Farm however, we believe that healthy consumption should be preceded by healthy production. We notice that the craving for huge profitability is driving many operators in an unethical direction. Some people add chemicals to oil to make it red, grow plantains with carbide, mix cassava with paracetamol and so on. The food production sector has also become a victim of our dysfunctional system. This problem is what we seek to address.

What is Ramadan Discount Market all about?

Ramadan Discount Market is just as the name implies. It is a platform created to support Muslims in their spiritual endeavors in the holy month of Ramadan. It provides opportunities for Muslims and even non-Muslims to buy food items, non-alcoholic beverages, prayer items, gifts and so on in preparation for Ramadan at heavily discounted prices. Beyond foods and drinks, there will also be doctors and nutritionists who shall be advice on fasting diets during Ramadan, particularly for those that have health challenges. Lectures, giveaway, sponsorships and consultations on hajj and umrah are also part of the programme.

How long is the programme?

The programme is for three days and will be annual. The first one will hold this year between February 21 and February 23 at the National Stade in Lagos.