The zero hunger initiative

THE current economic recession amid inflation and unemployment has naturally assured pervasive hunger and its various unpleasant concomitants in the land. These include a restive populace, road rage, social discontent and criminality of all hues. In response to the tensions in the land, a former President, Chief  Olusegun Obasanjo, in concert with some civil society groups, launched a zero hunger initiative last week.

The initiative’s ambitious aim is to eradicate hunger in Nigeria by 2030. According to media reports, a five-year pilot programme which is to begin in four states namely Ogun, Benue, Ebonyi and Sokoto, will herald a national intervention aimed at exploiting the agriculture potential of the country. For Obasanjo who is the chairman of the initiative, it is certainly a familiar terrain not just because he is an experienced farmer, but because as Head of State, he once developed the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), a programme that ought to have been the precursor of the zero hunger initiative if it had flourished. Sadly, like many other government policies, it hardly survived the regime that birthed it.

The OFN, which encouraged youths in institutions of higher learning to work on farms away from their abode during their long vacations, not only for a stipend but also to consider a profitable and meaningful career in agriculture, soon collapsed tragically. But it would be wrong to allow past frustrations to discourage the renewed efforts to exploit the agriculture potentialities of the country because it offers a way out of the country’s present economic quagmire, especially as it has become quite obvious that the country can remain poor in spite of its oil wealth. The advantages of an economy with a thriving  agricultural sector are endless, including employment for all the demographic sectors of the population, foreign exchange earnings and food security. These advantages can even multiply tremendously via the agro-allied industries, thus transforming the economy into a truly independent one if it is matched with the requisite infrastructure.

Ending the trail of hunger in the country should actually be any government’s priority, which is why the initiative must receive some fillip from the government, at least in terms of policy drive, because of the massive agriculture that will be involved to actually start what could be a revolution. The involvement of key government functionaries like the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu; the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole and the Director, United Nations World Food Programme, Mr Stanlake Samkange, may have given the initiative a semblance of the seriousness and commitment of the government to the programme, but it is the representation of the civil society and the private sector that has actually lent credence to its resolve.

The pilot approach, commencing in the four states, is suggestive of both caution and commitment on the part of the involved parties to see the initiative to its logical conclusion. The agriculture business in which the initiative is wrapped can only succeed with attention to detail and patience. We think that the farm settlements’ approach in which young enthusiastic and energetic people are encouraged to take to all the different forms of farming under the supervision of knowledgeable extension workers and professionals like veterinary doctors in the case of livestock and poultry, should be revisited. Initially, the emphasis must be on food crops since the mission statement of the initiative is on zero hunger.

In addition, the nation’s agricultural research institutes must be involved in assisting the participants in their various tasks. Veteran farmers should also be included in order to boost food production based on their invaluable experience. Fortunately, the impact of this initiative will not take too long before it is felt across the country given its natural endowments.

The zero hunger initiative should actually have been embarked upon long ago. But then, it is never too late to start anything that will be ultimately beneficial to the country.