Following the statement made by president Buhari that Nigeria is recording bumper harvest in Agriculture, a Port Harcourt-based Agriculturist has described the statement as political.
Chairman Agric and Agro-Allied trade group, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Emmanuel Ogbonda who stated this while fielding questions from our reporter Tina Stephen noted that the bumper harvest is not reflecting in the south-south and other parts of the country.
Ogbonda stressed that farmers in this region are yet to access federal government loans, facility or support for agricultural development.
According to him, there is so much hunger and a shortage of agricultural produce in rivers state adding that an urgent measure should be taken to save people from starvation.
‘’There is no support for farmers in the south-south. The people of Rivers state have not benefited from all the agriculture programs set up by the federal government.
“A lot of money has been pumped into the north to boost agriculture. CBN has thrown a lot of their weight pushing money to agriculture in the north.
“Imagine a situation where the government is using how many billion dollars to organise an election but nobody bothers to throw such an amount on agriculture where plenty of the money would have been realised through the effort of the people and which would have helped to grow the economy.
‘’If we are talking about the bumper harvest, it should reflect more food in the streets and in our markets. In Rivers state, there is no food. We should stop being political on issues that affect lives.
“South-south farmers need facilities, need support from the federal government to grow agriculture produce. If there is bumper harvest in the north, there should also be bumper harvest in the south and other parts of the country, so that there will be food everywhere‘’
He also called on federal government to urgently tackle the insecurity challenge farmers in Rivers state face in their farmlands.
“The insecurity in the country is high. How can a farmer be in his farm and hoodlums will attack or kidnapped the farmer and demand for ransom? Next time that the farmer wants to go to his farm, he will be afraid.
“These are the factors that cause food crisis. People are interested in the farm but they are afraid. Kidnapping is not only done in the city but also done in the village.
“Federal government should do something if there is no security provided for farmers, there would be less production of food. Giving lip service to agriculture will not help us. Agriculture is the bedrock of any society. Policies towards securing lives and properties should be so strong to also protect farmers‘’
