The President of Integrated Agricultural Services, South-West, Mr Adeyemi Adejare, has described the recent United Nations report warning on impending acute hunger as a pointer to the government’s failures in supporting agriculture and farmers.
He said Nigeria was already witnessing a shortage of food, adding that only aggressive farming could help Nigeria out of the crisis.
The UN’s report raised the alarm that 82 million Nigerians, which represent 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030, calling on the government to tackle climate change, pest infestations, and other threats to agricultural productivity as well as food security.
Meanwhile, in early June, the United Nations, projected that acute food insecurity may worsen in magnitude and severity across 18 hunger “hotspots,” that include Nigeria.
The report underscored the urgent need for assistance to prevent famine in Gaza and Sudan, as well as the worsening hunger crises in Haiti, Mali, and South Sudan.
Furthermore, it warns about the continuous effects of El Niño and the impending risk of La Niña, which could lead to extreme climate events that disrupt both lives and livelihoods.
“Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (October 2023), the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zambia have joined Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia and Zimbabwe in the list of hunger hotspots, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period,” the report stated.
The UN report also indicated that numerous hotspots were grappling with escalating hunger crises, emphasizing the alarming compounding effect of simultaneous and overlapping shocks on acute food insecurity.
It pointed out that conflict, climate extremities, and economic shocks were persistently pushing susceptible households into food crises.
The report cautioned that 2023 could potentially be the first year since 2010 to see a decrease in humanitarian funding compared to the previous year, although it still represented the second-highest level of funding ever for humanitarian assistance. The report further stated, “The daunting prospects highlighted in this report should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. We need to spearhead the shift from responding to crises after they occur to more proactive anticipatory approaches, prevention and resilience building to help vulnerable communities cope with upcoming shocks.
“Acting ahead of crises can save lives, reduce food shortages and protect livelihoods at a much lower cost than a not timely humanitarian response,” FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu said.
The WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain said, on his part, “Once a famine is declared, it is too late – many people will have already starved to death. In Somalia in 2011, half of a quarter of a million people who died of hunger perished before famine was officially declared.
“The world failed to heed the warnings at the time and the repercussions were catastrophic. We must learn the lesson and act now to stop these hotspots from igniting a firestorm of hunger.
“We have proven solutions to stop these crises in their tracks, but we need the resources and the political will to implement them at scale before more lives are lost.”
The report added that ongoing conflict in Palestine is expected to further worsen the already catastrophic levels of acute hunger.
“Starvation and death are already occurring, accompanied by an unprecedented death toll, widespread destruction, and the displacement of nearly the entire population of the Gaza Strip,” the UN noted.
Speaking against this backdrop, the Integrated Agricultural Services president, Adejare, said, “The only way to avert the UN’s prediction is to engage in aggressive farming and get genuine support from the government. Nigeria is facing food insecurity already, so we can’t shy away from what the UN said. It is a pointer to the government’s failure to support agriculture. “The food industries and our farming system must reach a sustainable level to avert the prediction, and that requires a holistic approach. We need to discard the old farming, storing, and processing systems. Government at all levels must be genuinely committed to promoting agriculture.
“The government must empower farmers and encourage mechanized farming for the youth. The government must also provide soft loans and subsidies farming implement for genuine farmers.”
He noted that the UN report was correct, adding that the nation must take proactive actions to end food insecurity.
“The UN report is correct. Currently, it will take Nigeria 30 uninterrupted farming and harvesting seasons to achieve food security, because of the shortage we have already.
“The government has not been fair to farmers. The northern farmers are enjoying little benefits from the government, but the South-West governors are not helping the farmers at all. The governors have not been helpful; they have been paying lip service to the promotion of agriculture.”
SOURCE: PUNCH
