Rebooting the economy through food purchase, distribution

If we must borrow the said amount from World Bank, and if we must use the funds for emergency poverty relief for those who have been very adversely impacted by recent reforms, I would have suggested that rather than distribute cash, the government should mount a programme of purchasing food from our farmers to distribute to people around the country that actually sleep and wake up in hunger.

Whereas this idea could be inefficient too – as government operatives and politicians have been known to hoard food meant for poor folks and the process of purchases could not be devoid of padding and other shenanigans – the idea is a far sight better than just distributing cash (even if the said cash is disbursed electronically through e-Naira for instance.

The following can be achieved with a government-led food purchase and distribution project, as is done in the United States, India and other countries:

This is direct cash assistance to our farmers.
Farmers are encouraged to produce more – with the guarantee of bulk purchases
Though there will be disruption to activities of middlemen in the agric space, this will be temporary
Food poverty will be positively impacted. There is no assurance that N8,000 cash will be used for food. Many poor men will use the money for sundry purposes including alcohol, betting, cigarettes etc, and no problem will have been solved.
The food programme could also target nutrition. Government can target a bouquet of carbohydrates, proteins, and fruits distributed to people over time.
Many food crops value chain in Nigeria and farmers producing them will be positively impacted.
This will open up the rural areas and shift attention to the local governments as required. The next phase of growth for our economy will necessarily have to start from the local governments.
This will dovetail with the government’s stated resolve to ensure food security
This is the best way to reduce post-harvest losses in many crops. For example, billions of dollars’ worth of crops including fruits and vegetables are abandoned to rot yearly all over the country, while millions of Nigerians are unable to find food.
A food programme will also have reduced effect on inflation compared with just pumping out more cash – that will probably have to be supported by more naira printing. With inflation already at 22.41% with prospects to reach 40% as a result of same policies, perhaps we should avoid giving people cash.
The suggested food programme will also directly target the biting effect of food inflation which stands at 24.82% as at last count. Whereas government purchases from farmers could lead to price increases, but the most vulnerable Nigerians are spared of that impact. We could also study how the US and other countries avoid these spikes with their food programmes.
A food programme could also provide the government with precious data around food production, population, poverty and so on around the country. It could even really assist accuracy in our upcoming population census. We need ideas like this that has many ramifications and gets everybody busy.
This food programme will also provide a lot of jobs in logistics, agriculture, accounting, social services, information technology, statistics and so on, if done right. Even if we achieve a 60% success rate, that would be impactful.
The policy will also lead to economic growth as a result of waste reduction, new jobs and services provided, and new activity in rural areas – including urban poor areas. This will occur if data of government activity is well-captured.
The ruling government will score very good points among the masses of Nigeria if this is done. Political operatives could be given some of the assignment to collaborate with public sector workers for the food distribution. Government must think of clever ways to ensure that these distributors do not hoard the food products or repackage them for campaigns. The Tinubu administration should always remember that it promised RENEWED HOPE to the people.
This idea will be different from Buhari-administration’s failed ideas like Tradermoni, Marketmoni and COVID-19 cash distribution. People want a new lease of hope, not old, inefficient ideas.
The government has stated as part of its launch of a campaign on food security that it has declared “a state of emergency on food security”, and “that all matters pertaining to food & water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items are henceforth included within the purview of the National Security Council”. There is no better way to anchor this laudable declaration than the idea I have suggested.