THE festive season that ushered in year 2025 brought out, in stark relief, the reality facing Nigerians in terms of food — its cultivation, processing, transportation, and distribution. For example, one chicken, which sold for a mere N2,500, BC(Before Change, in 2015), was sold for as high as N25,000.

Of course, rice, which is both a staple and celebrity food, sold for more than N100,000 last December. We can continue, but experience has shown that the prices of onions, pepper, tomato and other stew/soup-making ingredients have simply become unaffordable, especially since June 2023.

We can blame this on the removal of subsidy on petrol, and rightfully too, because that was the trigger which unleashed the bullets of high prices of just about every thing. But, taking a deeper look, it can be seen that our food production is lagging far behind what the population needs. We simply do not have enough farmlands under cultivation. Worse, insecurity has driven farmers off the farms as herdsmen militias roam over the country, unleashing terror. Farmers in states like Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Yobe, Borno, Niger and Benue (which is a major yam production hub) can barely go to farm any longer, for fear of being hacked/shot to death by murderous, bloodthirsty terrorists.

We simply do not have enough farms. In other words, there is not enough investment in what we need to eat to take care of our stomachs. Our people, especially our men and women of means, should be reminded that agriculture is now big business.

One of the reasons why the United States is a superpower is because of agricultural production. The country can feed itself and have lots more left for sale to other countries. China’s steady emergence to superpower status is in the same vein aided by the massive attention that the country has paid to agriculture. Besides, America’s men of means have also invested heavily in agriculture. For instance, founder of software giant, Microsoft, Bill Gates is officially the holder of the largest private farmlands totalling 269,000 acres of farmland under cultivation across 19 states of the United States.

In Britain, the biggest farmer is Sir James Dyson, an inventor, industrial designer,and business magnate who founded the Dyson company. He is best known as the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner. Much of Dyson’s wealth is tied up in Beeswax Dyson Farming, an agricultural business with more than 14,000 hectares of land valued at more than £500m. In India, Mukesh Ambani is also reputed to be a big-time farmer with mega investments in agricultural enterrprises.

What do our men of money here do with their means, apart from buying up real estate and driving up prices of land and accommodation up beyond reach of the ordinary people? I am of the opinion that they have a responsibility to make life easier for other less-fortunate people by investing in agricultural production. For me, investing in agriculture means creating a vast production base for our edibles, which will in turn generate employment, and in the process, trigger start-ups that will see opportunities in food processing. For example, massive production of yams and cassava will trigger emergence of  companies that will produce starch for the textile industry, as well as pharmaceutical grade starch, used in the production of tablets. So much to spin off from that.

I need not talk about the oil palm. It is left for interested investors to see what Indonesia and Malaysia have achieved for themselves with oil palm.

My take is this: we have 774 local governments nationwide. I can safely assume that as bad as things are, we can manage to spring up at least one multi-millionaire from each of these 774 LGs. Imagine each one of them having just 500 hectares under cultivation, devoted to crops most suited to the soil and climate of these areas. There would be jobs and other spin-offs that will rapidly alleviate poverty.

The main goal would be production of food items on a surplus scale, such that supply will overwhelm demand and drive down prices. Government cannot do everything, though it has to be the enabler by providing infrastructure that will make these agro-businesses thrive. That means government will have to ramp up efforts at providing potable water, roads, electricity, and security. Apart from that, the federal minister of agriculture and the agriculture commissioners in the states are simply sitting on their haunches.

Not enough, if any work is being done by these officials to ramp up food production. For example, the government of Saudi Arabia recently launched the largest fish production project in the Middle East, targeted at producing 100,000 tons of salmon production per year. The goal is to reduce total annual imports of salmon fish, which is currently 23,000 tons annually. Where are similar initiatives from our agriculture ministry officials? Zip!

Also, while we are at it, I think there should be a deliberate and intentional campaign to get the younger generation of our money men interested in investing in agriculture, instead of competing about who owns the largest fleets of Rolls-Royce, Bentley, or Mercedes-Benz. Apart from that people should know that investing in what goes into peoples’ mouths is sure fire: no depreciation. That is because everyday, people must eat; the market for their products is assured as well as return on investment. I hope we take to this. Happy New Year, TGIF.