Tunde Sanni
27 February 2009
Ibadan — Experts on agriculture drawn from the Asian and African continents yesterday declared that global food crisis that rocked the world last year was effectively over.
One of the experts, Marco Woopereis, Deputy Director-General, Research, Africa Rice Center, Cotonou, Benin Republic, who spoke at a workshop on "Stress Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia" in Ibadan, revealed that a whopping $800million was expended by the Federal Government last year alone to combat the food crisis but warned that the trend may come back unless there is an aggressive rice plantation and production.
Participants at the workshop were drawn from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania,
Program Officer, United States Agricultural Development, Dr. David Bergvinson, Dr. Babucarr Manneh from The Gambia and the National Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Pastor Bode Adenekan, also spoke with newsmen shortly after the opening ceremony of the workshop which was put together by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan .
They canvassed an extension programme that would facilitate aggressive mobilisation of farmers in their respective countries to ensure that the current rice supply to the global market is sustained.
The food expert lamented the continued importation of rice to Nigeria and other African countries inspite of favourable climatic conditions.
Woopereis advocated stronger political policies to tap the unexploited rice in Africa , pointing out that 10million tonnes of rice were imported to sub Sahara Africa.
The Africa Rice Center chief revealed that about 4million tonnes of rice were consumed in Nigeria while about 40% of it is imported, adding that the development brought about the need for the Nigerian government to increase rice production.
RIFAN boss, Adenekan at the media interactive session warned the government of the danger of the continued importation of rice, noting that it could be used as a political weapon against the country.
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