Vice President Kashim Shettima shas aid Nigeria is scaling up its agricultural drive with modern technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), geospatial analytics and satellite-driven climate intelligence to end food insecurity in the country.
He spoke as Nigeria and other African nations, as well as the United Nations (UN), called for collective action, shared purpose and determination to combat food insecurity on the continent and globally.
According to them, Africa needs predictable concession finance to invest in agriculture, rural transformation, infrastructure and literacy, while climate finance must be aligned with the food system.
Shettima, who joined other African leaders yesterday at the opening session of the United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, said in a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, that the target is to ensure a future anchored in abundance, equity, and human dignity.
He said that while food insecurity has become a shared affliction that no longer takes cover in distant lands, African nations must learn to swim against the tide, amid climate change and other global challenges.
“The Fourth Industrial Revolution has not only disrupted the old order but gifted us instruments that were once confined to the imagination. Artificial intelligence, geospatial analytics, and satellite-driven climate intelligence are now part of our agricultural vocabulary.
“We are deploying these tools to monitor production, enhance transparency, connect producers to markets, and reduce waste across the value chain,” VP Shettima declared.
Instead of diplomatic pleasantries, the Nigerian Vice President urged participants at the summit to leave the event with a conviction that Africa will succeed. He also urged African nations to rise with a shared purpose and determination to make the continent food secure.
“A broken food system in any part of the world diminishes the dignity of humanity. Let us rise with a shared purpose. Let us build a world where no child sleeps on an empty stomach, no farmer is forgotten, and where food is not a luxury but a human right,” he stated.
Senator Shettima noted that Nigeria has also pursued institutional reforms robustly, including deepening partnerships across sectors and prioritising agro-industrialisation as a key driver of inclusive growth.
He explained that this followed the unveiling of the nation’s National Food Systems Transformation Pathway, which led to the rollout of targeted investments in infrastructure and human capacity.
Stating that the declaration of a national emergency on food security in Nigeria did not just raise the alarm, the VP said, “It’s the reason we are advancing the Presidential Initiative on Food Security, a mission designed to upscale the cultivation of vital staples, maize, rice, cassava, and wheat.
“We are backing this with climate-smart innovations, financial inclusion for smallholder farmers, and an expansion of extension services, particularly for women and youth,” he maintained.
The Nigerian vice president outlined other agricultural investments, including the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones. He pointed out that the zones being developed in partnership with the African Development Bank and IFAD are not just places of production but also engines of transformation.
“They are creating jobs, attracting private capital, and linking rural producers to national and global markets. Our faith in the capacity of our people remains unshaken. But production is not enough. We believe a sustainable food system must also be healthy,” he added.
Senator Shettima extended what he described as the warmest gratitude of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the people of Nigeria to the host countries, Ethiopia and Italy, assuring that, apart from just listening and learning, Nigeria is fully ready to lead in areas where leadership is needed.
“Nigeria is ready to listen. Nigeria is ready to learn. Nigeria is ready to lead wherever leadership is required. We are here to champion food systems that are resilient in the face of climate shocks, responsive to nutritional needs, and rooted in local realities. We are here because we believe that the arc of history does not only bend towards justice. It bends towards food justice,” he further stated.
For his part, Ethiopia’s prime minister, Dr Abiy Ahmed, described the summit as a moment to take stock and renew a shared commitment to building resilient and inclusive food systems.
Ahmed noted that Africa needs predictable concession finance to invest in agriculture, rural transformation, infrastructure and literacy, adding that climate finance must be aligned with the food system “because hunger and environmental degradation are deeply linked.”
According to him, Ethiopia has launched a comprehensive roadmap for food system transformation since the first food system summit in 2021.
“Globally, food systems face immense pressure from planning stock, shocks, conflicts, inequalities, and economic destruction. At the same time, development assistance has declined in multilateral cooperation. These challenges threaten production, supply, and dignity in the subregion nations.
“Yet, in this context, the human spirit and our shared resolve to act remain strong. In Ethiopia, we have made a deliberate choice to act boldly, think holistically and place human dignity at the centre of our food system transformation. We are investing in local production, reducing dependency on imports and building a resilient system that serves our people and our future,” the prime minister said.
On his part, the secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, who spoke through a recorded videocast, noted that food systems are about more than food, saying they include climate, justice and the right to a better future.
“Since the last food summit, we have seen progress. We are committed to food systems that are inclusive, sustainable, equitable, resilient and built on human rights, but progress is not fair enough. Global hunger is rising, and threats and shocks are pushing the prices of food.
“The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the African continent is not just a crisis of scarcity, it is a crisis of justice, equity and climate. Climate change is destroying harvests, supply chains and humanitarian response,” he said.
Others who spoke are the prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the Kenyan president, William Ruto, among other heads of state and representatives from multilateral organisations.
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