AVERTING THE LOOMING FOOD CRISIS
The authorities need to do more and stem the prevailing insecurity across the land
No fewer than 24.8 million Nigerians in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) could experience acute nutrition and food crisis between now and August except the authorities act on time to address the challenges. This dire prediction is from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Cadre Harmonise (CH), a tool used by the Food Security Sector (FSS) partners to calculate food security and nutrition situation in each location, within a certain period. With the process led by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) through the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) in collaboration with other government agencies, it is a report to be taken seriously.
Indices of hunger and poverty have been pervasive over the years. Millions of Nigerians can hardly afford a good meal a day. Indeed, hunger has been a daunting challenge in Nigeria and has been rising for various reasons. The Boko Haram insurgency has not only led to the death of thousands of Nigerians but also led to widespread displacement of million others from their communities and farms. The hunger crisis is exacerbated by the unending conflict between farmers and herders in the food belt of the nation, and elsewhere. Removal of fuel subsidy has led to astronomical rise in transport fares and cost of food products in the markets.
For an economy that largely depends on imports – from petrol to fertilizers – the impact on the people has been rather hard. But before the recent alarm, similar sentiment had been expressed by the United Nations organ, with prediction of a looming acute hunger in Nigeria and 20 other countries in the coming months. The gravity of the situation was better expressed in a statement by UN’s FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu who last year noted that “The magnitude of suffering is alarming. It is incumbent upon all of us to act now and to act fast to save lives, safeguard livelihoods and prevent the worst situation.”
It is particularly worrying that some of the states where food prices have gone up are in major food-producing areas of the country. Sokoto is a major producer of beans, cowpea, groundnut, garlic, wheat, sugarcane, pepper, onions, and tomatoes. Groundnut, sorghum, sesame seed, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and pepper are produced extensively in Plateau State. Likewise, Gombe is well known for groundnut, ginger, cowpea, sesame seed, tomatoes, and pepper. Plantain, oil palm and cassava are largely produced in Edo State. Also, Kano has extensive production of rice, garlic, sorghum, cowpea, wheat, pepper, onions, and tomatoes.
However, the state of insecurity in many of the rural communities has made it practically difficult for farmers to continue to engage in agricultural production optimally, thus causing market disruptions with attendant food price shocks. Therefore, a peaceful environment is essential for productive agricultural engagement, which results in food security.
Available reports indicate that food price inflation is not likely to improve anytime soon if the predicaments facing parts of the country remain unresolved. Nigeria is endowed with good arable land, weather and water supply and has the potential to be self-sufficient in food production. But even though farmers are becoming aware that much more can be achieved in agriculture through technologies, most of them do not have access to them. Modern tools of technology must be massively introduced as hoes and cutlasses or depending on other nations cannot effectively feed the nation.
There is an urgent need to adopt automated systems which the smallholder farmers can use without breaking the bank. Many of our young people are already going in that direction. They only need to be encouraged and supported.
