The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi Sabi in this interview said Nigeria’s agricultural sector is experiencing a facelift with the cultivation of hundreds of hectares of land for food security.This, he said is not about rhetorics, but tangible mechanisms that have been put in place to encourage more engagement with agriculture. He spoke with Kuni Tyessi

What are some of the challenges you are facing as minister of state  for agriculture and food security?  

We are here to solve challenges, and so if I say I am facing challenges, then it means I’m failing. When we came, there were constraints that we had to tackle. For us to focus is for us  to achieve President Bola Tinubu’s eight point agenda. ln this case, we have to achieve food security- and we are talking about poverty reduction, cum economic growth. When we came in 2023, there was high inflation in prices of food and when analyzing the problem, you will agree with me that the prices have gone remarkably low. Whichever way you look at it- the best strategy was to focus on what to do to increase production so that there is more food available. 

We also began to look at all the other constrains like imputes fertilizer application, and the likes. Agriculture has seasonality, therefore, the only thing we could do was to use whatever we had. Here we have raining season and dry season. What we did was to tap into the seasons, and were able to turn it to three seasons. We started  the first planting in 2023 and planted over 20 hectares out of the over 120 hectares we were targeting in sixteen weed producing states like Jigawa, Kano and Borno. Yobe, including Niger state is still ongoing, but this time, we have increased it to 220 hectares this year.

If you are a farmer and making profit, you will want to continue the following year, and this is why we are looking at techniques that increase cost of production. For example- there is  a Federal Executive Council committee that is lookin at the logistics on the cost of foods, and we are also talking about storage which comes at different stages. 

We are aware that so many people have gone into farming, and the President once  gave a window period where some people were allowed to import food. Should that be a continuous thing? It was not scheduled to be an annual occurrence. The good thing is that Nigeria has never gotten to that position where you go to the market and you lack food. We must give credit to farmers for that.

What will it take for Nigeria to have food in abundance? 

It will involve so many things. Right now we have gotten over the initial shock, particularly with the stability of the naira. It has come down from its high cost while the dollar is low and has not affected the prices of goods and services. However, we must give kudos to the President.

But Nigerians blame the President for the hardship due to the fuel subsidy removal. What about that?

To be fair to the President, during the presidential campaign, all the candidates said they were going to remove fuel subsidy if they are voted into office.  President Tinubu was very courageous for taking that decision and the funds were poured into the system  to improve other infrastructure across the country. Even the price of petrol is coming down. You will agree with me that our roads are improving, and you can go to Kaduna an return on the same day . I did recently and what was unheard of some few years ago have become history as they are now passable and the bad spots have been tackled. Same goes for the Abuja/Minna road which was bad some few years ago and is being worked on. 

Insecurity is another problem that has discouraged farmers and many Nigerians from going into faming. Would you say this aspect is also being tackled? 

A lot has changed and is still changing, and things will get better. If you visit most of the affected places, the people will tell you that a lot has changed. Most of the attacks have stopped. I represented Niger-north in the Senate and I know how we used to raise points of order or urgent insecurity matters. Recently, a political actor in my area who went back to farming one of those hot spots brought a bag of beans to my house in appreciation for the peace that has returned to their community and environs. He told me that he farmed where he had not touched in years. He also testified that like himself, many people also farmed. Every one knows the Birnin Gwari area in Kaduna State and how it almost became a no go area. It is free today and markets that have been closed for more than 10 years have all been opened today. Some reporters have been there and reported it on live TV. Recently I was in Kaduna State where I joined the Governor, Senator Uba Sani to flag off dry season farming in those areas. We are no longer having any problem in some of those spots. The attacks being reported by the media have drastically reduced because the techniques changed when Mr. President gave marching orders to the service chiefs. We must give credit to the President for the kinds of things that have happened in Nigeria and the kinds of shock that people absorb here.  If it had happened in other places, it would have caused serious crisis. We must applaud the government for stabilizing the country and I want to assure Nigerian’s that this is going to be much better in the renew hope of the President’s agenda. The Federal Government said it will import modern farming equipment for famers in order to encourage them. I can tell you that the equipment have started arriving it and this is not magic- it is a process. Recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abba A. Kayari was at  Shedda to oversee the  delivery of the equipment.

Can you share with Nigerians how the equipment will be distributed? 

We wont distribute it like that- we will create a service center in each of the zones that tractors and the likes can be kept which will be hired by farmers. We are going to base it on digital technology. There will also be provision for famers who can take soft loans at affordable rates due to the fact that not every farmer that requires to own a tractor, but every farmer requires mechanisation to hire. We will have hiring centers that farmers can access the equipment when they need to farm in large quantity. Those who can afford to buy the equipment at market rate, can do so while those who can’t buy can hire. The idea is for everyone to have an opportunity to mechanized equipment.

What will happen to famers in rural areas who are without access to technology?

When we say digitalisation, it is going to be like in the case of cars. Most of the cars today are digital. For example, if the tractor is due for servicing, just like in the case of car technology when alerts will be sent to the driver by the car for servicing, so will it be with the tractors in order to maintain the longevity of the equipment. We want to ensure that the equipment are well maintained so that they can be used for a long time.

The cost of fertilizer is still expensive for the average farmer. Why is this so despite the sermon about food security and making g farming attractive?

We want to support farmers to use fertilizer wisely. We have introduced national famers soil training so that the farmers will understand the texture of the soil and know how and when to apply fertilizer. It is multitude of solutions we are introducing to make sure that the famers have maximum benefit from fertilizer.

What will it take for Nigeria to be fully food sufficient?

What it will take us to be fully- food sufficient is for a substantial number of Nigerians to go back to the farm. Let’s adopt new technology that will give us maximum yield. We are now training leaders of cooperative societies, trustees and cooperatives on how  to better manage the group and ensure that all farmers are able to access Government intervention.

You are one of the vibrant ministers in the Tinubu government- what legacies do you hope to leave after exiting this position?

What we hope to achieve in the next few years is an agricultural sector that is self sufficient, driven by farmers who are skilled and who know how the modern technology to farm in large quantity is all about, and will feed the nation as well as have a better deal from their farming activities, because the vision of the President is to see and have a nation that nobody goes to bed hungry. 

What is a typical day for you?

I wake up as early as 4am to pray and plan my day.

You have been a civil servant, senator, and now a minister- which of the engagement has been difficult?

I was appointed to handle difficult tasks. I don’t see what I do as challenging. Once I accept to do the job, I’ll make sure I fulfil the task.

Who is you idol?

 Prophet Muhammad!

Is there a particular thing you can’t leave home without?

There’s absolutely nothing. I don’t attach too much sentiment to worldly things.