Everyone concerned about solving the current food crisis in the country would stop at nothing to ensure that hunger is driven out of the land. At a recent gathering in Abuja, stakeholders in agriculture and food chain brainstormed on ways out. SUNNY IDACHABA reports.
There is intense hunger in the land, no doubt. In the last few months, not only has what used to be known as staple food classified under ‘essential commodities’ suddenly became unaffordable, many Nigerians have resorted to settling for food hitherto meant for lesser mortals.
In many states especially in the north, there have been reports of residents going for what is known in local Hausa parlance as afafata, a sort of abandoned and discarded rice chaff meant for feeding chicken and birds because the normal, healthy rice for human consumption are no longer affordable.
In the same vein, many Nigerians can no longer afford to buy maize grains and cassava flour due to their rising costs. Also in many markets, gari that used to be a common-man food suddenly disappeared from the market stalls and where available, the prices are far beyond reach. This is even as provisions and confectionery are gradually disappearing from the menu list of most families. It’s been a dicey situation, in the opinion of many.
Proffering solution
It was in consideration of all these that at a policy dialogue organised by NOI Poll in Abuja recently, stakeholders from agric chain like Ministry of Agriculture and key agencies involved in food security gathered to proffer solutions to the biting hunger in the land.
While making reference to some appalling global reports about the food crisis in Nigeria, Dr Chike Nwangwu, the head of NOI Poll in Nigeria, disclosed that about 89% of Nigerians worry that the food they can buy may not be enough due to scarcity and that they fear the unavailability of that food the next time they visit a market stall.
Dwelling on a global report, he said the 2023 Global Hunger Index ranks Nigeria 109 out of the 125 countries with a score of 20.3 which estimated that the hunger level in the country is alarming. According to him, UNICEF equally made it clear in 2023 about a looming, precarious food situation caused by insecurity. Aside insecurity, he said climate change challenge and the persistent flooding in many parts of the country in the recent past, without forgetting the negative impact of the Russian/Ukrainian war on grain shortage in the country, are largely responsible for the prevailing hunger in the land.
On his part, the executive director of Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) Frank Tietie admitted that the situation at hand is frightening; therefore there is no point theorising about how the nation got to where it is presently. “We are facing a national food calamity and when there is no food, security cannot be guaranteed. Our case may be worse than that of Niger Republic and other countries if we don’t do anything about it immediately.”
As a solution, he said a lot of the ornamental trees like cashew, mango, oranges and others occupying large plots around residential areas and farming plots need to be brought down for real farming to take place. He however advocated for subsidies on food and all agricultural inputs as a way of negotiating out of the bend.
On his part, the director of food security in the Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Nuhu Kilishi nailed the reason for the prevailing hunger on Covid-19 and the consequences of the ongoing war in Ukraine which supplies the bulk of the grain needs of most countries of the world. He disclosed that the rice pyramid which was widely launched by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 have been largely depleted by end users, saying that the pyramid was not a hoax as being alleged in certain quarters.
The country director of Mercy Corp Nigeria, Ndubisi Anyawnu held the same opinion with other speakers when he said the Ukrainian/Russian War and climatic changes have had significant negative impact on the nation’s current food crisis. He agreed that there is food volatility in the country of which 708m face hunger globally of which 29m Nigerians faced it between June and August 2023. He was however silent on the statistics of the current figure in the country today.
According to the details of the poll conducted by NOI between October and November 2023, 70 percent of adult Nigerians nationwide often go hungry because there is not enough food. Out of this, 28 percent attributed the situation to the farmers/herders crisis while 16 percent linked the situation to unemployment.
“This corroborates with the publication of Relief Web, a humanitarian information service provided by the United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that the food security situation in Nigeria has over the years been impacted especially by violent conflicts, including the insurgency in North-east, armed banditry in the North-west, perennial farmer-herders clashes in the North-central.”
The NOI report detailed how children are the most vulnerable to food security with approximately six million out of the 17 million food-insecure children under the ages of five in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, Katsina, and Zamfara states known as the hotspot for insecurity and malnutrition.
World report
According to the 2022 World Food Programme report about Nigeria, “Poor feeding practice and worsening food insecurity have continued to loom heavily. Ranking 163rd on the Human Development Index (HDI) for the second year in a row, Nigeria has also experienced the worst flooding in a decade.”
According to the report by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the flood situation in Nigeria, the 2022 flood led to the destruction and washing away of over 675,000 hectares of farm land of which NOI noted that, “One can only imagine the extent of the impact of this scale of destruction of farm land on agricultural activities and food production across the country. Farmers, the majority of whom are small-scale, lost not only crops and harvests, but also farm animals, poultry, fishery and farm implements to the raging flood.”
NOI noted further in its food security report that in 2022, countries that are dependent on food imports have seen a spike in food inflation as the war in Ukraine and associated supply shortage caused sharp price hike for wheat and other staples on the high fuel and transport cost situation thereby resulting in the deterioration of food security.
“The ripple effect of the worsening food insecurity is the reason for the recent pockets of protests and outcry by Nigerians as majority can no longer afford a descent meal. It is these that have impacted negatively on the health, nutrition and socioeconomic lives of Nigerians.”
Way out
As a way out of the present state of biting hunger in the land in order to improve on food security, 28 percent of Nigerians, according to the poll, want the federal government to tackle insecurity, 14 percent want improvement in agricultural policy as against the ageing policy still in place, 12 percent advocated for the closed borders to be open so that more food items can be brought into the country to complement the current available food stuff in the country, while nine percent of respondents want a reversal of the current fuel price to what it used to be prior to May 2023 so that its ripple effect on other goods and services can reduce.
Tackle insecurity, other Nigerians task FG
In what looks like an overriding concern by Nigerians over the biting hunger in the land, many concerned Nigerians have urged the federal government in particular to tackle insecurity. According to them, most farmers cannot access their farms any longer because of the fear of kidnapping and banditry which have been the bane of peace in almost every part of the country.
According to Mallam Hassan Alih, a concerned Nigerians, insecurity is largely the reason for food insecurity. “Except the government wants to look the other way and not sincere, food is scarce because of insecurity. Something needs to be done about it.”
On his own part, a security expert and retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sule Musa noted emphatically that food is scarce because farmers cannot enter their farms. “When security is enforced in our forests and people begin to access their farms, there would be food. How many people want to risk their lives by going into the farms and be kidnapped?”
Because food is one of the basic necessities of life, it is the views of many that everything should be done to ensure its availability on the tables of Nigerians.