The persistent flood across the nations have been identified as a major threat to food availability in the country, Kebbi State caucus in the House of Representatives has said.
The caucus stance came as a result of the recent flood in Kebbi state, known as the Land of Equity.
The chairman of the caucus, Muhammad Jega (APC-Kebbi), disclosed this during a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
Jega who led six other lawmakers at the briefing urged the Federal Government to urgently address the shortfall in food supply chain to reduce hardship and cost of items in the market.
The lawmaker also urged the government to address severe environmental degradation caused by the flood.
He added that this should include adequate and early preparation for dry season farming and construction of major infrastructure affected in the state.
The chairman of the caucus noted that the disaster could not have come at a worse time for the farmers who had looked to a bumper harvest.
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According to him, this is a major setback to the federal government’s effort to boost local rice production as part of measures to end rice importation.
The lawmakers, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of Kebbi State, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, for their prompt responses to reduce the hardship caused by the flood.
Jega said that the estimated cost of the disaster was more than N10 billion across the state while calling on the federal government to send relief materials to alleviate the sufferings of the people.
He said that early dry season farming preparation should start in earnest with the provision of seedlings, fertilisers and other inputs to be given to the farmers.
Jega also called on the federal government to commission a study with the aim of providing a lasting solution to the perennial flood disasters in the state.
Buhari had on Sept. 2, expressed concern over the heavy flood that took a number of lives and submerged thousands of hectares of farmland and houses in the state.
Buhari noted that Kebbi remained the focal point of his administration’s policy to produce rice locally as part of his administration’s commitment to agricultural revival.
