As World Commemorates Food Day, Nigeria In Focus

by Fred Nwaozor

October 16 each year remains the World Food Day. It suffices to say that today, the world over is celebrating the 2021 edition of the worthwhile event. It is a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger. The focus of the day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. Yet, in a world of billions, over 800 million people worldwide live with chronic hunger, 60% women and almost five million children under the age of five die of malnutrition-related causes every day. Due to the inevitable impact of food on mankind, the World Food Day (WFD) was established during the 20th General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) in November 1945. During the conference, all the Member States of FAO resolved that October 16 each year should be commemorated as World Food Day. The day was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the founding date of the organization - FAO. In the history of mankind, no one has ever boasted of living a healthy life without an adequate food on his/her table. This implies that a healthy living is not unconnected with consumption of the required dietary.

Food, which remains one of the three basic needs of man on earth, can only be acquired or guaranteed via thorough participation in agricultural practices. No doubt, agriculture is an integral part of human existence considering that it is the only means that can guarantee the three paramount needs of man, which are: food, clothing and shelter. Obviously, several societies in the world depend solely on agriculture as regards Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR), and creation of employment opportunities. Such societies jealously safeguard it because they acknowledge it is the most affordable and assessable source of revenue within the reach of man. This is a clear indication that agriculture can function as a revenue source as well as means of survival. Needless to assert that sustenance of agriculture remains one of the prime desires of any rational and vision-oriented society in existence, and Imo wouldn’t be an exception.

Owing to its challenges, including lack of access to mechanized farming, undesirable topography, poor climatic condition, unavailability of land, poor soil texture, and insufficient funds, et cetera, many prospective farmers in most developing nations, like Nigeria, have over the years lost interest in agriculture, thereby endangering the socio-economic status of the affected nations. It’s not anymore news that lack of participation in either subsistence or commercial farming among the populace of a certain country invariably leads to malnutrition and tremendous decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The most devastating aspect of apathy in agriculture is the one observed amongst the youth as a result of their eager and unending quest for non-existing white-collar jobs. To say the least, the ongoing lack of enthusiasm among the young ones, in the area of farming, contributed immensely to the current scarcity of food in Nigeria. History indicates that between 2011 and 2013, a total of eight hundred and forty-two (842) million individuals, or about one in every eight persons in the world, were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger. This signifies that the said set of people was not regularly getting enough food for themselves to carry out their active life activities. It’s not anymore news that in the recent times, climate change has remained one of the greatest challenges in this part of the world. One of the biggest issues related to climate change is food security. The world’s poorest – many of whom are farmers, fishers, and hunters – are being hit hardest by higher temperatures and an increasing frequency in weather-related disasters.

At the same time, the global population is skyrocketing and is expected to reach about 9.6 billion by 2050. To meet such a heavy demand, agriculture and food systems will need to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and become more resilient, productive, and sustainable. This is the only way we can ensure the general wellbeing of ecosystems and rural settlements, as well as reduce emissions. Growing food in a sustainable way means adopting practices that produce more with less input, in the same area of land, and use natural resources wisely. It also means reducing food losses before the final product or retail stage through a number of initiatives, including better harvesting, storage, packaging, transport, infrastructure, and market mechanisms, coupled with institutional and legal frameworks. The FAO is using this period to call on countries to address food and agriculture in their climate action plans and invest meaningfully in rural development in their respective jurisdictions. So, as Nigeria joins the global community to celebrate the 2021 annual World Food Day, I urge the government to be more proactive than being reactive with a view to ensuring that the bane of the country’s agricultural institution is thoroughly addressed. It’s appalling that presently the acclaimed Africa’s giant can no longer boast of crops like cocoa, rubber and oil palms that used to be the pride of the country during the post-colonial era, owing to lack of maintenance culture and relegation of the existing healthy policies to the background occasioned by overdependence on mono-source of economy, the oil and gas sector. There is indeed a compelling need for the governments at all levels to provide the needed support for any genuine prospective farmer in their respective jurisdictions, such as soft loan with zero interest rates, arable land, enabling environment, and wholesome policies, as the case may be. The government should equally subsidize the prices of farming machinery/equipment to enable every commercial farmer in the country purchase them without much ado. In the same vein, the ongoing restriction of importation of goods and services into the country must be duly strengthened and intensified by the apt authorities such as the Customs Service, among others, toward increasing the level of demand on locally-made commodities.

There ought to also be an increased awareness among the populace in various quarters on the need to patronize indigenous commodities at all times. This can be actualized by working thoroughly on their mentality. On their part, the farmers ought to, from time to time, validate the membership of all their members, and also encourage the upcoming ones to register, to enable the government or any concerned corporate body easily assess them as well as ascertain the genuineness of anyone who claims to be a practising farmer. They should also sensitize their members on the need for specialization towards boosting production. Farmers need to concentrate on a particular crop or livestock farming, as the case might be, to enable them obtain a desirable outcome during harvest. After creating a sound foundation, any farmer can in the future consider practising mixed farming. Governments at all levels ought to as well endeavour to own and manage various mechanized farm with a view to supplementing the privately owned ones. They mustn’t leave everything for the private sector, in order to ensure adequate price regulation on the goods and services. Such measure would also intensify the ongoing diversification mantra, thereby boosting massive employment opportunities for our teeming youths.

In view of this, every agriculture ministry is expected to boast of staff that are qualified in various agricultural disciplines, rather than professionals from other areas. And, every staff must be prepared to go to the field. Above all, there’s a compelling need for Agricultural Science to be studied by every high school student in Nigeria as a core subject, and equally sit for it during their School Certificate examinations. There’s also need for all the tertiary institutions in the country to introduce Agric Science in their schools’ curricula as a general course for every first year student; there would be need for a formidable legal backing towards ensuring the effectiveness of this very measure. Inter alia, the government and non-governmental organizations, among other stakeholders, should endeavour to continually grant bursary to the undergraduates studying Agric Science or any agric-related discipline towards encouraging prospective ones. Hence, the various relevant civil society groups operating in the country are required to solicit for this on behalf of the students. All in all, viable and formidable policies need to be formulated and consequently kept alive to ensure apt implementation of the outlined measures. A policy is like a tyre that facilitates the needed wholesome movement of a vehicle. Every relevant authority or stakeholder in the country must henceforth be ready and determined to sacrifice now in a bid to enjoy forever. Think about it!