The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar has said it was unsure herders intentionally unleash their cattler on farms, despite frequent invasion of farms and killings of farmers in different parts of the country, especially in South East and Benue State, by armed herdsmen.
The Minister who stated this while responding to questions at the presentation of his ministry’s scorecard for 2015-2023, also blamed the rising cost of basic foodstuff in the country on inflaton and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many countries, including Nigeria to shut down key economic activities for many months.
Recall that many farmers have been killed in states of the South East, especially the recent attack which claimed the lives of 10 farmers in a community in Enugu State.
This is aside from the killings that had taken place in attacks on farmers by herders in Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states.
Abubakar said: “This is an age-long problem of farmers/herders conflicts but I do not think that at any given time herders intentionally push their cattle to go and eat farm produce or crops.
“Accidentally, the cows might stray and go. This has been the source of the conflict. So, ranching is the easiest and the best thing to do.”
The minister, who assured that the federal government had begun moves to put an end to such conflicts, said one of the measures to checkmate herders’/farmers’ conflicts was the introduction of the National Livestock Development Programme and the proposal to have ranching and grazing reserves across the country.
Speaking on other issues, the minister said the country has enough food to feed all Nigerians, adding that while the current food inflation was not peculiar to Nigeria, his ministry would continue to produce food to take care of its large population, in line with the mandate to do so and improve rural development.
He also blamed the rise in the prices of fertilizer on inflation and the inability of the producers of raw materials to do so due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.
“We have enough food to take care of Nigerians. We are producing food across the country and we will continue to do so to feed Nigerians in line with our mandate and expedite the transformation of the rural communities of Nigeria.
“The fact that some categories of food are imported by Nigeria is not an indication that we have food shortages. The high cost of food that we experience in the country is a result of rising inflation, which is not peculiar to Nigeria but due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced many sectors of economic production to be shut down for many months,” he said.
The minister also blamed the high cost of food in the country on smuggling, adding that efforts were being made to checkmate it.
