The experts made their call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

They spoke against the background of President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum on the need to address food crisis in the country.

The President at the meeting approved immediate rollout of the National Construction and Household Support Programme to cover all geo-political zones in the country to boost agricultural productivity.

Under the programme, the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which will traverse Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos, is prioritised.

Mr Segun Adebayo, the Deputy Director, Centre for Food Safety and Agriculture Research, urged the Federal Government to address the security issues in local farms.

“We have not dealt with the underlying issues, these palliatives is like trying to cut a tree from the top.

“If farmers who are supposed to handle the food security issues in our country are at risk, how do solve the food inflation issued.

“This palliative by the Presidency is cosmetic solution and it is not sustainable. Palliatives have never been a solution to problems like food insecurity. They are short term measures.

“Even the challenge with these palliatives again is that if we take a random survey to find out how many people are beneficiaries, you will hardly find the beneficiaries.

“Most times the people sent to share these palliatives divert  it into their families, friends and people they know,” Adebayo said.

He, however,  noted that, “Food is a bio-fuel. It is like giving palliatives to buy fuel for your car. If they buy tomorrow, what will happen tomorrow?

“If the government provides food palliatives at the cost of N155 billion, the question is how sustainable is it? Will the food continue to multiply itself?

“If we do not solve the foundational problem of security in our farms, then the food inflation will persist,” he said.

Mr Charles Idonije, an ecosystem enabler and agriculture analyst, commended the government’s effort for sustainable road network for agriculture logistics.

“The coastal highway road network constructions proposed by the Presidency to address the food insecurity issues is the right way moving forward.

“It is commendable as it will open up more inter-state trade relationships and improve more of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across all states,” Idonije said.

Idonije who commended the initiative stressed the need for effective implementation.

“In terms of the N155 billion for agri-food purchases and distributions nationwide, is commendable but how effective will it be implemented?

“We do not have the problem of having right policies in the country but the problem is that the implementation and the execution of the policies that are faulty.

“Now, is the distribution of food palliative going to be seamless and transparent? So, that it can reach the most vulnerable in the society.

“Is it going to reach down to the poorest of the poor? A case study is the distribution of food during the COVID-19 pandemic, it did not get to the bottom of the prism.

“It is just a policy thing, it is the implementation and the execution that matters. If we can have a system where this fund is shared across all key stakeholders in the sector, it will alleviate the food crisis we are currently experiencing,” he said.

Reiterating the essence of an even distribution of the palliatives, Mrs Anthonia Amakwe, the Chairperson, Association of Women in Trade and Agriculture, called for the right modality.

“What strategies are being put in place to disburse these palliatives rolled out by the Presidency?

“Are the food interventions going to be shared through associations, groups, local governments, or states?

“It is not just about releasing the palliatives and interventions but the modalities that will be applied in distribution of these interventions must be well spelt out, so it can go round.

“Otherwise the interventions will still remain in the hands of few people and this has been the order of the day in this country. The government will release interventions and at the end it does not get to everyone,” Amakwe said.

She called for the adoption of urban farming to quell the effects of the food crisis.

“Nigerians are resilient and even without these palliatives, we have been improvising to survive.

“Urban farming of vegetables and peppers are springing up in local residences due to the high cost in the market.

“If everyone embarks on urban farming, it will also help cushion the effects of food crisis in the country,” she said. (NAN)