Can Nigeria achieve food sufficiency by 2020?
The report tagged: “2009 hunger report’’, released by the organisation on October 14, 2009, says that “a combination of several factors had conspired to take food off the dining tables of many homes, especially in the developing countries’’. “This development underscores the need for urgent reforms of the fragile food system in the world,’’ says […]
The report tagged: “2009 hunger report’’, released by the organisation on October 14, 2009, says that “a combination of several factors had conspired to take food off the dining tables of many homes, especially in the developing countries’’.
“This development underscores the need for urgent reforms of the fragile food system in the world,’’ says the FAO report, which it produced in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP).
But long before the recent food and economic crises, the number of undernourished people in the world had reportedly been on the increase in the past decade.
FAO figures showed that some measure of progress was made in the 1980s and early 1990s, in the efforts to reduce hunger, following more investments in agriculture.
To address the current slide in food production, a situation worsened by global warming, among other factors, the FAO organised series of events to mark the World Food Day.
The events include a concert with the theme `Music Against World Hunger’ holding in Rome, Italy and a press conference on “Saving Lake Chad in Central Africa’’ addressed by the FAO Director General.
The conference focused on awareness about the vulnerable situation of the 30 million people who live in the Lake Chad region.
Reports say that the Lake Chad is fast becoming both a human and an ecological disaster as a result of global warming.
To address the challenges posed by inadequate supply and distribution of food in developing countries, the FAO says that the countries must make a net investment of about 83 billion dollars per annum in the agricultural sector.
“That is necessary if the world is to have enough food to feed the teeming mass of hungry people living in these countries by 2050,’’ the world organisation says.
In Nigeria, the most populated African nation, analysts say that the food situation has continued to worsen with dwindling investments in the agricultural sector.
They contend that many Nigerians will be ravaged by hunger in the near future unless urgent steps are taken to address the situation.
They also particularly note that the country, in the 1960s, had a strong agricultural economy that met it’s food needs and even exported.
Worried by this situation and with hunger ever present in the lives of poor Nigerians, an NGO, the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN), said recently that it was determined to restore the lost glory of the agricultural sector.
Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, former Nasarawa State Governor and Chairman, Board of Trustees, NAFN, declared recently that the organisation was “embarrassed’’ that Nigeria spends a whopping “2.8 billion dollars annually’’ to import food.
“What makes the decline in food production particularly disturbing is that it is not resulting from any natural cause.
“The decline is occasioned by the discovery of crude oil and lack of foresight on the part of past leaders and governments,’’ he said.
Adamu recalled that in the 1960s, Nigeria was ranked among the world’s leading producers of cotton, cocoa, palm oil, groundnut and hides and skin.
During that period, the agricultural sector contributed 60 per cent to the country’s GDP and contributed 70 per cent of its export.
According to him, Nigeria had always been and remains a country richly endowed in agricultural resources.
It also has a rich and diverse vegetation capable of supporting a very big population of livestock, he added.
Adamu, who is also the President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said that Nigeria has 68 million hectares of arable land; 267.7 billion of surface water; and 3.14 hectares of irrigable land.
He said that the country was also blessed with abundant rainfall of about 300m to 400m per annum, and has extensive coastal region rich in fish and other marine products.
To draw national attention to decades of neglect of the agricultural sector, Adamu said that NAFN, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, AFAN and other stakeholders, recently organised a joint agricultural show.
The show, with the theme, “Global Food Crisis: Incentive to Agricultural Growth in Nigeria,’’ he said, was a platform where Nigeria’s abundant agricultural resources were showcased.
According to Adamu, the 4-day show, held along Abuja road, also exposed farmers to current practices and technology designed to improve agricultural yields.
For analysts, the efforts by the stakeholders appear to have struck the right cord as the Federal Government has demonstrated a new resolve to improve the agricultural sector.
Pursuant to its food security programme, the government has included agriculture in its 7-point Agenda, an economic programme of the Yar’adua administration.
Essentially, agriculture, according to Alhaji Abba Ruma, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, is said to be receiving a special attention as a basis for sustainable economic development.
In the 2009 budget, the government set aside N46.9 billion for the agricultural sector and a total N91.8 billion for agriculture and water sector representing 12 per cent of the entire budget.
Recently, the agricultural ministry, in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria, Oxfam and another NGO, “Voices of Food Security’’ held series of activities in Abuja to create awareness on the significance of the 2009 World Food Day.
Speaking at the end of the food promotion programmes, Mrs Ifeoma Charles-Mowuba, Programme Coordinator, ActionAid Nigeria, suggested more soft loans for small scale farmers if government was to achieve its food security programme.
(NANFeatures)