Key transactions included payments for the delivery of rice, beans, and garri to help alleviate hunger in vulnerable communities.

Morakinyo Akinosun

COLLAGE: President Bola Tinubu, l, and a palliative beneficiary, r. © KOIKI Media

The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government reportedly spent a total of ₦9.74billion for the procurement and distribution of food items as part of its efforts to mitigate the nationwide food crisis in 2024, according to a report by a civic-tech organisation advocating for transparency and accountability.

A large portion of the funds was dedicated to supplying essential food staples such as rice, beans, maize, and other commodities, BudgIT reported on its platform, ‘GovSpend’.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security led the initiatives, making multiple payments to contractors responsible for the emergency supply of palliative foodstuffs to various federal constituencies, the report said.

Key transactions included payments for the delivery of rice, beans, and garri to help alleviate hunger in vulnerable communities.

Payments, averaging around ₦85.45 million per constituency, were reportedly made between February and November 2024 across different regions.

According to data from GovSpend, ₦85,454,545.46 was spent on each constituency in states including Kano, Ogun, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Adamawa, Kaduna, Jigawa, Ekiti, Oyo, Lagos, Bauchi, Rivers, Borno, Sokoto, and Enugu, bringing the total expenditure to ₦9.74 billion. 

However, despite the significant financial outlay, there are concerns about the programme’s effectiveness in addressing the root causes of food insecurity, with an economist at Lotus Beta Analytics, Shedrach Israel, arguing that food palliatives alone cannot solve Nigeria’s food crisis. 

“While food palliatives are essential for addressing immediate hunger, they fail to address the underlying systemic issues, such as inflation and the deficiencies in the agricultural sector,” Israel told The Punch newspaper. 

“We need long-term economic policies focused on boosting local agricultural productivity and improving distribution networks to reduce dependence on external food aid.”

According to Israel, the ₦9.74 billion spent on palliatives could have been better invested in agricultural innovation and infrastructure development, which would provide sustainable solutions to food insecurity.

La’ah Dauda, an agricultural economist based in Kaduna, also emphasised the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing the food crisis. 

“The government’s reliance on palliatives is a short-term fix to a deeper agricultural crisis. While necessary, these measures do not tackle critical issues like inadequate irrigation, poor storage facilities, and limited market access, all of which continue to impede agricultural productivity across the country,” he told the newspaper.  

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