FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA: MATAN meets Bank of Agriculture on collaboration

By Dansu Peter 

The leadership of the Market Traders Association of Nigeria, MATAN, led by Amb. Olakunle Johnson, the National Chairman, Project Implementation Steering Committee of Vat Direct Initiative (VDI), met with the Managing Director and the Chief Executive of the Bank of Agriculture, Alhaji Alwan Ali Hassan, yesterday, November 2, 2023, to discuss and perfect areas of collaboration on the plans to surmount the challenges of food security in the country.

The plan, according to them, majorly centers on bridging the gaps between agricultural production, distribution, and marketing, from the pre-planting season to harvest and the final off-taking of products. The strategic plan will leverage the network of stake-holding members of MATAN that are the predominant players in the agricultural food value chain in the informal sector of Nigeria. MATAN, as an umbrella body of all traders and artisans in Nigeria, has received the Farmers Association as a stake-holding member to perfect their role as part of the proposed Federal Government's P measures to cushion the effect of fuel subsidies on agricultural production and distribution across the nation.

The discussions, which were geared towards solving the challenges in the agricultural food chain when fully in operation, will involve the commodity exchange of agricultural products with major traders across markets in the country through their digital e-commerce platform. The Bank of Agriculture has a major role to play in the all-inclusive strategy that will provide the foundation for ease of agricultural production from input to production and production to market as a solution capable of crashing the hikes in food costs in Nigeria.

To achieve the above, MATAN has just signed a working agreement with some financial institutions for the purpose of digital enumeration of their members to drive the benefits of financial inclusion and digital administration capable of driving effective relationships and developmental advantages for their members.

Since the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29th, there has been an astronomical rise in the prices of goods and services across the nation. The subsidy removal is believed to be more severe for traders across Nigeria and has brought untold hardship to them. MATAN is however happy with the recent pronouncements and responses of Mr. President to the yearnings of traders, especially in the area of ‘Eradication of Multiple Taxation and Extortion’ by shades of people, without positive effects on revenue generation.

The inauguration of the Presidential Task Force on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms and their releases so far have raised the hopes of our members, hence our geared efforts to give full cooperation to President Tinubu’s administration by leveraging on the strength of our association and network of members. MATAN is in the 774 local governments in Nigeria, which cuts across the chains of food production, from inputs to consumption.

Prominent executive members of MATAN at the meeting were Ambassador Felix Osakwe Johnson, Chairman, Conflicts and Resolution Committee; Alhaji Mohammed Kyabo, Chairman, Contact and Mobilization Committee; and Barr Donald Ayibiowu, National Legal Adviser, among others.