Buhari targets imported food products

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria not to provide foreign exchange for the importation of food, saying his administration has achieved food security. ‘Don't give a cent to anybody to import food into the country,’ Buhari told lawmakers in Katsina. The Premium Times reports that he said foreign food reserves would be saved and utilised strictly for ‘diversification of the economy’. He noted that some states like Kebbi, Ogun, Lagos, Jigawa, Ebonyi and Kano had already taken advantage of government's policy on agriculture with significant returns in rice farming. He added that he was grateful that young Nigerians had started exploring agri-businesses. CNN reports that Nigeria is Africa's largest producer of oil and relies on the sale of crude oil for about 90% of its foreign-exchange earnings. As a way of diversifying the country's economy and reducing its dependence on oil, policies aimed at stimulating the growth of the agricultural sector have been put forward over the past years.

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