The federal government through the National Economic Council (NEC) is mulling the idea of establishing “Agro-rangers” in the short term to combat insecurity being experienced by farmers.
This was disclosed by the Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Vice-President at the end of the National Economic Summit (NEC) held yesterday.
According to the statement, the NEC will consider setting up agro-rangers in the short term and state police in the long term to address issues of insecurity being witnessed by farmers across the country.
It stated,
- “NEC noted that fertiliser is a major ingredient of agricultural productivity which the government is striving to attain and urged the state governors to embrace modern agricultural practices to increase productivity.”
- “Council also considered the establishment of Agro-Rangers in the short-term and the possible creation of state police in the long-term to address security threats on farmers. This was after a presentation by the Minister of Police Affairs, Sen. Ibrahim Geidam.”
Need to de-dollarize the urea market and release of 42,000MT of grains
The statement also noted that the federal Ministry of Agriculture has been directed to meet with major fertilizer producers like Dangote, Notore etc since the commodity is a critical input in farming and food production.
Furthermore, issues considered during the NEC include the release of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains, and the need to de-dollarize the economy especially the purchase of locally produced commodities like urea which is used for fertilizer production.
What you should know
Insecurity across the country especially in the northern region has led to farmers abandoning their farms leading to a shortage in food supply- one of the reasons for the high food prices across the country. Currently, food inflation stands at 35.41%– the highest in the past few years.
In the past few days, the idea of state policing has been mooted by the federal government although it cannot be created via executive fiat or act of parliament by the national assembly alone.
This is despite the bill to create state police scaling through a second reading in the NASS.
