Multiple regulatory agencies aid food scarcity

Croplife Nigeria, the umbrella association of agro-chemicals, has called on the Federal Government to stop multiple agencies from regulating its activities in order to achieve its agenda of food self-sufficiency. Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, the president of the association, Alhaji Manhood Tauhid, said the association was not against regulations; but that being subjected to […]

Croplife Nigeria, the umbrella association of agro-chemicals, has called on the Federal Government to stop multiple agencies from regulating its activities in order to achieve its agenda of food self-sufficiency.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, the president of the association, Alhaji Manhood Tauhid, said the association was not against regulations; but that being subjected to multiple regulations, taxes and levies from various federal agencies had not been easy for the association.

Therefore, he appealed to the government to streamline the regulators to one as it is being practised in other parts of the world.

The multiple regulations, which according to Tauhid, started two years ago, was solely regulated by the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) before the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) joined.

He said aside the strenuous process of registration with each of the agencies, members of the association paid “heavily” for licence, and that tariffs were paid to them as well.

By implication, he said agro-chemicals would be scarce, adding that the food production and the food security situation of the country would be affected.

“Due to multiple regulatory bodies, it takes up to six weeks to take our containers out of the ports and this affects the quality of our products. If government does not address the situation, farmers will continue to buy thrash and it will make them record losses which will translate to scarcity and hike in food prices. If government does not address the situation; it will persist,” said Tauhid.

Croplife chairman of Mentorship Committee, Mr. Martins Awofisayo, said several attempts had been made through letters to draw the attention of the NAFDAC Director General, the Director, Ease of Doing Business, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Agriculture to the plight of the 29 member companies in the association, but nothing had been done to correct the situation.

Members of the association said they worked with farmers to ensure weed control in rice, as well as a massive training of farmers on agro-chemicals usage to ensure zero reject on groundnuts, maize and brown beans.

The association, which is worth $600bn, solely imports agro-chemicals for use on crops during planting and storage, market agriculture inputs, ensure farmers use agrochemicals responsibly to prevent “rejection” during export, as well as ensure weed control during planting.