World Food Day was established by the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) member countries at the organisation’s 20th general conference in November 1979.
It has since been observed every year in more than 150 countries, raising awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis.’
According FAO, food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
And the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security for a household as access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. It adds that food security includes at a minimum, ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies).
If we go by these definitions, can we say that Nigeria is food-secured? I wouldn’t think so. Facts on ground and events that have unfolded since 2008 corroborate this view. As we celebrate World Food Day 2009 let us examine our food security status, let us see how far we have fared with our drive for food security. Nigeria ranks 20th on the 2006 Global Hunger Index; about 65 percent Nigerians are food insecure, that is insufficient access to the amount and variety of food for a healthy and productive life.
Nigerian agriculture is dominated (about 90 percent) by its over 14 million smallholder farmers, while the average yields of major staple crops remain far below most of the other developing countries.
An analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) holds that Nigeria and other developing countries may not be shielded from the ongoing global food price crisis and financial crunch because the combined impact of low economic growth and decreased investments in agriculture could cause major increases in malnutrition in these countries.
The IFPRI analysis says the result could be 16 million more undernourished children in 2020. These findings were released recently at the annual general meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
According to the report, “Many developing regions have experienced high economic growth in recent years; between 2005 and 2007, developing countries in Asia grew at an annual average rate of nine percent, while African economies grew at six percent. In 2008, however, with the onset of food and financial crisis, that robust growth has tapered off…,†said Joachim von Braun, director general of IFPRI.
For IFPRI, by 2020, rice prices would rise by 13 percent, wheat by 15 percent, and maize by 27 percent, compared to the baseline scenario, and 16 million more children would be malnourished.
But the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) have come in to help solve the food insecurity problem by throwing their weight behind the smallholder farmer.
Recognising the important role played by small holder farmers in Nigeria, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC), launched on Tuesday, October 7 2008, an ambitious $3.5 million National Agro-Dealer Support (NADS) project in Nigeria to bulk credit and provide support to 1,400 rural agro-dealers. These agro-dealers are the primary contacts for smallholder farmers to purchase seeds, fertilizers and other farm inputs critical for increasing productivity and incomes.
The project supports the Federal Government of Nigeria’s commitment to agriculture, as it has identified agriculture and rural development as priority areas in reducing poverty challenges facing the country.
It is no news that many smallholder farmers, who form the overwhelming majority of agricultural workers in Nigeria, are unable to access fertilizers and seeds in rural areas, forcing them to pay high transport costs to towns where agricultural inputs can be found. And when they arrive, they frequently find that stores lack the specific items they need or offer them at unaffordable prices. Lack of access to basic farm supplies makes it virtually impossible for poor farmers to increase their yield or incomes, reinforcing poverty. The agro-dealer programme will help to improve the volume, range and timeliness of supply of agricultural inputs into rural areas.
Government made a bold move to boost agriculture production with its N200 billion Agriculture Fund, but it is unfortunate that the fund still remains in suspense.
The National Economic Council directed that N100 billion of the N200 billion deposited in two commercial banks be immediately returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for safe keeping. The N100 billion was recalled for lack of transparency from the choice banks that the CBN appointed for the disbursement of the fund to commercial farmers.
If we must achieve food security in this season of crisis, this fund and similar ones, as well as agriculture projects generally, must not remain in suspense.