BY AISHA HADEIJA, TEMI ADEGOROYE AND MOHAMMED MOMOH Exactly 45 days after Nigeria welcomed a newly elected government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on July 13, 2023, declared a national emergency
Exactly 45 days after Nigeria welcomed a newly elected government, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on July 13, 2023, declared a national emergency on food security due to the sudden hike in food prices that has made basic items unaffordable to millions of Nigerians. This declaration is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of our food ecosystem which several development programs and private-led sector-led initiatives continue to tackle.
Poor implementation of policies, insufficient resource allocation to the sector, and exposure to the shocking impact of climate change such as flooding, droughts, and desertification contribute to the increased prevalence of hunger and undernutrition in Nigeria. According to the World Food Program’s Advanced Disaster Analysis and Mapping system, nearly 750,000 hectares of farmland were affected due to flooding in October 2022.
To drive sustainable transformation, the government should consider supporting and scaling existing development efforts and private sector-led backward integration initiatives focused on the business case of providing input and training support to small and medium-scale producers and linking them to markets in a commercially viable manner.
The federal government must leverage existing multi-agency committees to build a coordinated national response mechanism for early warning systems. In collaboration with development partners, the government must lead the charge to build the capacity of these agencies and provide the much-needed infrastructure for a robust climate response.It is commendable that the president’s 12-point plan recognises the need to enhance financing for agriculture actors.
“It is impossible to achieve the SDGs without profound progress in tackling undernutrition. It is widely recognized that good nutrition is the most important investment in human capital development.” -The National Development Plan The significant contribution of women and young people in the food and agriculture sector cannot be over-emphasized. The increasing rate of rural-urban migration has concentrated the population of youth who search for ‘greener pastures’ in the more developed town. Women on the other hand are responsible for over 50% of the labour force in the Nigerian food system and are at the frontlines of climate change.
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