Special food programme introduced

The Federal government in Nigeria has introduced a special food programme which will cost about N6.2 billion (US $ 45 million) in a bid to tackle a possible food crisis in the country, 'The Guardian' newspaper reported on Wednesday. The programme was set up following the high cost of staple food and the recently released Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report which said that only 20 percent of the 120 million Nigerian population was food-secure, the paper said. A meeting held recently in Kano State, northern Nigeria, which was attended by all the states of the federation to discuss the country's food crisis said the programme will target food security, aqua-culture, inland fisheries, animal disease and pest control, agricultural commodities and food storage management. The modalities on its implementation are already being worked out, the paper quoted the Odo State Commissioner for Agriculture, Femi Akingbola who attended the meeting as saying.