The Nigerian federal government has announced plans to set up a Commodity Board to regulate rising food prices.
The Vice President, Kasim Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday during a two-day strategic meeting on climate change in Abuja.
Shettima said the board’s mandate includes assessing and regulating food prices and overseeing a strategic food reserve to stabilize prices of critical grains and other essential food items.
The Vice President reiterated that the government is working with security agencies to ensure that farmlands are safe.
He added that the government had provided 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that will be used to increase the availability of arable land for farming.
“Our solution to the potential food crisis has become immediate, medium, and long-term strategies. The short-term strategy entails revitalizing the food supply through specific interventions like the distribution of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to counteract the effects of subsidy removal, fostering collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources for efficient farmland irrigation, ensuring year-round food production, and addressing price volatility by establishing a National Commodity Board.
“This board will continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items,” Shettima said.
The development comes as Nigerians groaned over the high cost of living under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.