Ex-senator calls for establishment of food intelligence agency

A former Senator, who represented Ebonyi Central Senatorial Zone, Emmanuel Onwe has called for the establishment of the proposed Food Intelligence Agency to support the recent Federal Government declaration of emergency in food production and security.

Onwe made the call on Sunday in Enugu while briefing journalists on his Open Letter to President Bola Tinubu, titled, “Declaration of a State of Emergency on Food Security and ‘Commodification of the Naira Using Cassava’: What Can I Do for my Country”.

He noted that the declaration of a state of emergency on food security should have galvanised mass action in agricultural practices that would have pushed the FIA agency into action to rescue the nation from food inflation, hunger and outright population starvation.

According to him, this is where the role of the proposed Food Intelligence Agency rises to the top.

“A Food Intelligence Agency – the strike squad of food security and food sovereignty – would have played a significant and defining role in investigating, assessing and recording the state of food production, consumption and preservation across Nigeria.

“Such a body would have the capacity to provide actionable intelligence on the threats and prospects of food production so that these recurring and embarrassing emergencies in food availability could be proactively averted.

“The intermittent emergency reaction to food shortages in this country is absolutely embarrassing not just at national but international level,” he said.