Dangote tells Nigerians to prepare for food scarcity

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President/Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, has outlined why the Federal Government should prohibit maize exportation.

The embargo, according to Africa's richest man, is vital to safeguard food security in the country in the wake of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which poses severe threats to world food supply.

Dangote stated this during his speech at the 4th Annual Nigerian Food Processors and Nutrition Leadership Forum in Lagos on Thursday.

Under the Strengthening African Processors of Fortified Foods (SAPFF) program, the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and TechnoServe collaborated to host the forum.

According to NAN, Dangote acknowledged that the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine would result in food scarcity due to a lack of fertilizer.

Although the war's impact on food production may not be felt immediately, Dangote believes that its rippling effect will be felt in the country over the next two to three months.

He stated that Russia and Ukraine were the top two wheat producers in the world, accounting for one-third of global wheat production and that there would be a global shortage of wheat, maize, and urea.

"We'd see people exporting corn to earn foreign cash," he continued, "which I believe we should stop." We need to increase our crop production to avoid a food shortfall. It's a matter of food security, and it's a serious one."

According to Dangote, Russia and Ukraine produced around 13% of urea, 26% of potash, and are some of the world's top phosphate producers.

He urged stakeholders to work with the federal government to come up with viable solutions to help decrease the country's supply chain challenge's impact.

The SAPFF Program intends to address persisting difficulties in the food fortification sector by assisting over 90 food processors in increasing their capacity to produce and sell fortified foods to local markets using a market-based approach.

Households are facing the risk of substantially higher food prices as the Russia-Ukraine conflict adds to the already-stressed global food system.

Before the invasion, food prices were rising over the world, mainly due to the consequences of the climate crisis and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is expected to have an impact on bread and noodle prices in Nigeria.