64m Nigerians Face Stress, Food Insecurity – FAO

Nearly 64 million Nigerians have faced stress and food insecurity between the June and August 2023 lean season across 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) confirmed yesterday that 24 million people have also faced crises and food insecurity within the same period as projected in the Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analysis report released earlier this year.

According to the UN agency, the main drivers of this alarming situation are; vulnerability to human insecurity and displacements, armed conflicts, rural banditry, natural resource conflicts,  economic shocks and macroeconomic instabilities.

Other key drivers as highlighted include; crude oil price volatiles, regional crises, inflation, supply chain crises/disruptions and vulnerability to climate change-extreme weather events, droughts, desertification, land degradations, and biodiversity losses.

FAO representative ad interim in Nigeria, Dominique Koffy Koualour gave the update in Abuja at the opening of the 2023 Sahel Food Systems Changemakers’ Conference with the theme, “Rethinking Food Nutrition Security in the Face of Climate Change: Scaling Innovation and Driving Urgent Public-private Partnership Actions”.

He said Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY); Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Sokoto; Plateau and Kogi  are currently the most food insecure of the 26 states, and the FCT analysed.

FAO called for stakeholders’ support of the Nigerian government to translate the presidential declaration of the State of Emergency on Food Security into action to achieve the food system transformation.

Minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari highlighted the need for data-driven research, demand-driven agricultural research, and breeding for sustainability to address food safety, market, and environmental challenges.

Represented by the director, nutrition and food safety division, Sugra Mahmood, the minister said that the federal government will work tirelessly to create an enabling environment for innovation and investment to strengthen institutions to support public private partnerships that drive sustainable agriculture.

The minister also emphasised the importance of rethinking food and nutrition security in the face of climate change, involving all stakeholders, including civil society, academia, and international partners.

According to Shalel Consulting, the 2023 conference presents the much-needed opportunity to bring together incoming public officials with development partners, agribusiness leaders and industry experts from various value chains to pool ideas for collaborative strategies to create and support sustainable growth in Nigeria.