Richard-Mark Mbaram, Technical Adviser, Knowledge Management and Communication to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said the Coronavirus pandemic has brought to the fore the essence of agriculture to the Nigerian economy.
Mbaram, who spoke to newsmen during the distribution of food items to Lagosians by the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said the Minister of Agriculture had been consistent on the need to ensure that the sector was not locked down, as human beings need food to survive the pandemic.
“My minister has been consistent about the need for us to ensure that the agricultural sector is not locked down.
“This is because, if you lockdown agriculture, you are bound to have food insecurity and we need food security to have a national security.
“The challenges we are having for now with youths, all over the streets, lead to the fact that people do not have access to food.
“They are not concerned about what they wear, or how they smell; they are really concerned about what is in their stomach right now. So, this gesture by farmers is very laudable,” he said.
Mbaram described the current situation as a health emergency, stressing that all hands must on deck to ensure that the nation flattens the curve of COVID-19 infection.
He stressed that people had been asked to stay at home, adding that the society had been locked down and by implication the economy.
He urged other well-meaning Nigerians to rally round and support the less privileged to survive the pandemic, as well as the scarcity of food brought about by the lockdown.
“AFAN is the umbrella body of farmers in the country; they are the ones producing the foods and they are charged over the years producing the food for the country.
“The farmers are the custodians of food that we are talking about and it is in their place to demonstrate to the country that they are here for you.
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“This is a collective emergency; it is not a government thing alone. So, we all must come together as individuals or groups to help out,” Mbaram said.
Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman, AFAN, Lagos State chapter, while speaking with our correspondent, said it was part of the efforts of the farmers’ association to reach out to the less privileged to mitigate the effects of the lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic.
He said that the association intended to reach out to 400 people, as the farmers had been complementing efforts of the government, stressing that no government could do it alone.
“We felt that we farmers too should gather what we have from our produce to reach out to the less privileged among us to at least support them with food items to cushion the effects of the lockdown and to also compliment the efforts of the government because we know that government is doing a lot in that area which is not enough. With this people will see that farmers feed the world.”
Shakin Agbayewa, Lagos Deputy Chairman AFAN said that the target audience was mainly the vulnerable and the poor in the society, stating that there were the aged, youth, men and women who benefitted from the gesture.
Demola Fashola, a patron of the farmers’ association, said that the farmer group in their little way was giving back to the society that a lot of people were hungry because they could not go out to work as many people are daily income earners.
He noted that with what the group had shared, families would be happy again and be able to obey the lockdown order.
He, therefore, called on other associations and well-to-do Nigerians to assist the less privileged to cushion the effects of the lockdown.
Some of the beneficiaries appreciated the farmers’ association for the gesture, stating that what had been shared would go a long way in feeding their families.
They also called on government to do more and assist the poor.
Some of the items shared included vegetables, eggs, pork meat, rice, gari, corn, pepper and tomatoes, among others.
