Today is observed globally as the World Food Day (WFD). It is commemorated under aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Founded in 1945 on the heels of the World War II, the day is marked in over 150 countries across the world. The theme of this year’s celebration is: “water is Life, Water is Food; Leave No One Behind”.
Although it is also one of the most celebrated days of the United Nations calendar, the number of starving people in the world is racing close to one billion. According to FAO’s statistics, one person out of every nine people in the world does not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. The vast majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 per cent of the population is undernourished. Asia is the continent that harbours the hungriest people – two thirds of the total population or over 600m.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to close to 300m famished people where one person out of every four people is undernourished. Poor nutrition is also known to decimate the population of kids with nearly 45% of them below the age of five falling victim. One out of every six children (or roughly 100m kids) in developing countries suffer weight loss from hunger and malnutrition, while one out of four of the world’s children are stunted.
It is noteworthy that the FAO has been proactive in promoting events worldwide and creating awareness and action for those who suffer hunger with a view to ensuring food security and nutritious diets for all. The day will also offer the organisation an opportunity to show its commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 aimed at achieving Zero Hunger by 2030, in view of the fact that the right to food is a basic human right. However, the global body is under no illusion that achieving the 17 SDGs cannot happen without ending hunger, and without having sustainable and resilient, climate-compatible agriculture and food systems that deliver for the people and the planet.
We are in sync with the organisation in its drive towards achieving sustainable food systems and rural development through addressing some of the major global challenges ranging from feeding the world’s growing population to protecting the global climate, and tackling some of the root causes of migration and displacement.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world in marking this year’s commemoration today, its citizens should, under normal circumstances, be celebrating a good life. Nigerians should not be among the world’s famished people. It is blessed with abundant fertile land, excellent climate, energetic population and enormous oil wealth. But poor leadership by avaricious and corrupt elite has ensured that there is little investment in agriculture to reduce the number of those that are hungry. And because a hungry man is an angry man, the threat to the nation’s security and peace has been heightened in recent years. Even on the global scene, unrest and terrorism cannot be curbed as long as one-sixth of humanity remains hungry.
It is no longer debatable that hunger is mankind’s number one non-communicable ailment, killing more people yearly than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined. Take hunger out of the people’s myriad of problems and half of them are solved. But the current high inflation rate with its attendant negative effects on prices of food items has further worsened the living condition of the average Nigerian. Currently, inflation has risen by 50 per cent in recent months across the board with more than 64m Nigerians being at risk of an emergency food crisis and over 107m pushed below poverty line. As recently as 2020, Nigeria ranked 98 among 107 countries, and 103 out of 116 countries in 2021 according to the Global Hunger Index report released last year.
Commemorating the annual ritual would only make sense in this country if government at all levels goes beyond paying lip service, increases its spending in the sector and creates conducive environment for massive private sector participation. We are aware of the lack of adequate security for farmers in the face of armed banditry and kidnapping among other challenges. There is also the menace of cattle overrunning farmlands across the country, leading to bloody conflicts. These grave situations keep many farmers away from their farmlands, consequently threatening the nation’s food security.
As if all these obstacles are not enough, massive floods occurring annually in littoral communities and the hinterlands are known to wash away hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmlands across the country. This phenomenon has further exacerbated the already grave situation faced by the Nigerian farmers and aggravated food scarcity. Indeed, in line with this year’s theme, water is life and is a key component in growing food, but it must be well managed to produce the desired results.
