Buhari Bemoans Effect Of Kebbi Flood On Food Production

President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented the devastating impact of floods that ravaged Kebbi states last week on food production in the country.

The floods, which hit different parts of the state, claimed lives and destroyed thousands of hectares of rice farms and houses.

Attahiru Maccido, the state commissioner for agriculture, on Sunday, put the worth of rice and other farm produce were lost in the floods at ₦1 billion.

Commiserating with state government in a statement on Wednesday, Buhari said the incident is a setback to efforts of its administration at boosting food production

He added that the havoc wreaked on the rice farms came at a time farmers were looking forward to a bumper harvest.

“I am particularly sad over this incident because it’s a setback to our efforts to boost local rice production as part of measures to stop food importation,” Buhari said.

“Kebbi State is the focal point of our policy to produce rice locally as part of this administration’s commitment to agricultural revival which suffered relative neglect in favour of food importation.

“With the loss of six lives and still counting, thousands of hectares of land flooded and estimated economic losses of more than one billion Naira by rice farmers in Kebbi State, we face a major setback in our efforts to boost local food production.”

“This bad news couldn’t have come at a worse time for our farmers and other Nigerians who looked forward to a bumper harvest this year in order to reduce the current astronomical rise in the costs of food items in the markets.”

Condoling with the bereaved families and farmers affected by the floods, the president said he will work closely with the Kebbi state government in order to bring relief to the victims.