The President/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has explained why the Federal Government should place a ban on the exportation of maize.
Africa’s richest man said that the ban has become necessary in order to ensure food security in the country in the face of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which poses serious challenges for global food supply.
This was made known by Dangote while speaking at the 4th Annual Nigerian Food Processors and Nutrition Leadership Forum last week in Lagos.
The forum was organised by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and TechnoServe, under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) programme.
According to NAN, Dangote acknowledged that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine would lead to scarcity of food, arising from the inability to access fertiliser.
Dangote said that although the impact of the war might not be immediately felt in food production, he, however, pointed out that its ripple effect will be felt in the next 2 to 3 months in the country.
He noted that Russia and Ukraine were the number one and five in wheat production, accounting for one-third of global wheat production, adding that there would be a shortage of wheat, maize and urea in the global market.
He said, “We would start seeing people exporting maize to earn foreign exchange which I believe we should stop. We need to grow more so we don’t have a shortage of food. It is about food security and it’s serious.”
Dangote said that Russia and Ukraine produced about 13% of urea, 26% of potash, and one of the largest producers of phosphate globally.
He called on stakeholders to engage with the federal government to come up with likely solutions that will help reduce the impact of the supply chain challenge in the country.
The SAPFF Programme aims to address the lingering challenges in the food fortification sector using a market-based approach to assist over 90 food processors increase their capacity to produce and sell fortified foods to local markets.
Households are facing the prospect of even higher food prices as the Russia-Ukraine war piles pressure on global food system that is already in crisis.
Food prices were surging around the world before the invasion, partly because of the effects of the climate crisis and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been reported to likely affect the prices of bread and noodles in Nigeria.
