Targets and Action Plans for food Security

 Successive administrations in Nigeria, the present inclusive, believe that the country has great potentials in agriculture, but the slow pace of agricultural growth, the inability to  generate adequate employment in the sector, in addition to the insignificant socio-economic growth, the high poverty level and the feverish state  of democracy have all contributed to the worrisome state of governance today.

The obvious food insecurity confronting a large chunk of the population living below the poverty line and the embarrassing absence of  participatory democracy among others are militating factors to the ever elusive agricultural growth as promised by the federal and State Governments.

With majority of the poorest of the poor residing in the rural areas, the over 21 years of democracy has confirmed that   it would be nearly impossible, perhaps, to pin point the specific dividends of democracy, when a majority of the population are unemployed and live below the poverty line, when inadequate availability of agro-industrial raw materials impede  industrial growth and when agriculture cannot, for obvious reasons, perform its known functions in the economic development process.

Agriculture, without doubt, has great potentials for achieving a broad-based economy, but its performance remains unimpressive.

If government at all levels have sincere plans to alleviate the present sufferings of the people, then the revival of the Strategic Grains Reserve and reintroduction of Guaranteed Minimum Price System is crucial.

Sadly, the mindset of the youth and their aspirations  have defied all known logic, as same are suggestive of fetish and diabolic initiatives for wealth creation. These initiatives would never promote agricultural development.

Finally, Nigerians find it extremely difficult to  identify specific targets and action plans set by the Federal and State Governments for accomplishment, this is just as farmers across the country are full of lamentations  over the poor state of affairs i the troubled sector.