According to him, government has not rolled out enough policies to ensure that there is a boost in the production of food this year [2022].
Mr Kareweh further stated that farmers, on the other hand, were overburdened during the current planting season as they were 'forced' to purchase fertilizers themselves for the season.
This, he said, leads to a low agricultural output because the total cost of production has shot up.
He noted that farmers will not be able to apply the right amount of fertilizers to their crops due to the shortage of fertilizers.
In an interview with CitiBusiness News, Mr Kareweh said, “The current policy which was implemented before the current planting season was that they’re reducing fertilizer subsidy to 15%. That alone means that farmers will have to cough more money to be able to buy fertilizer."
He continued, "This already points to low output because farmers will have to cut down their acreage for farming because the total cost of production has gone up. This also means that farmers will not be able to apply fertilizer to the quantity that they ought to to and that will also mean that the yield per acre will fall.”
“All this means that there will be a low output of agriculture at the end of 2022. The implication of that is that come next year, the food situation will be more serious than it is today,” the General Secretary added.
Mr Kareweh said his outfit was yet to see policies from government that seeks to ensure that there is an increase in agricultural production this year and beyond.
