The permanent secretary, Ministry of Budget and Planning, Engr. Nebolisa Anako has identified food insecurity, malnutrition as well as climate change as factors that are responsible for lower incomes and higher prices of foods in the country. Anako said that this has seriously put food out of the reach of many.
“It is sufficing to say that food insecurity and malnutrition as well as the influence of climate change has resulted in lower incomes and higher prices of foods,” Anako said.
He said the issue has put food out of the reach of many and undermining the right to food thereby stalling the efforts to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: that emphasized ‘zero hunger.
Engr. Anako who was represented by Dr Zakari Lawani, the director, national monitoring and evaluation, made the remarks at the ongoing workshop on the development of an Implementation Strategy for the Nigeria Food Systems Transformation Pathways held in Abuja.
He described the ongoing programme as a call to action to achieving progress in dealing with issues of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, disease, unemployment, conflict and changing weather patterns.
Director of information in the ministry, Bolasade Boriowo quoted him as saying that the journey of food systems dialogues in Nigeria started in January, 2021 with Nigeria responding to the call by the secretary general of the United Nations that countries should look inward and organise different levels of dialogue to identify issues and challenges around the Food Systems and come up with sustainable innovative strategies towards ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition in line with SDGs.
He then called on all relevant stakeholders including government at all levels, developmental organisations to support the implementation of all the priority actions with the 2022 call to Action as well as mobilise more resources and monitor progress.
Meanwhile, the National Convenor of food System Dialogues who is also Director, Social Development Department, Budget and Planning, Dr. Sanjo Faniran at the workshop disclosed that a committee, 2023 task team has been constituted to provide technical support to the development of the 2023 coated action Plan to enable Nigeria to produce credible country report at the global stock-taking scheduled to hold in Rome in July 2023.
The national convenor who further disclosed that a steering Committee for implementation at the State would be inaugurated which would comprise of Permanent Secretaries of Economic Planning and Agriculture, Permanent Secretaries of Budget and National Planning and Federal Ministry of Agriculture as well as DG Governor Forum.
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