The Companion organises discourse on food security in Nigeria

NO fewer than 113 million people experienced high levels of food insecurity in the world’s most severe food crises in 2018 and Nigeria was one of the eight countries mostly affected, The Companion, an association of Muslim men in business and the professions, has said.

The national president, Alhaji Wale Sonaike, said this in Lagos at a briefing on the fourth “National Discourse” of the organisation themed “Food Security: Unleashing Nigeria’s Natural Potential for Self Sufficiency,” which is scheduled for Sunday at 10.00 a.m. at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos.

Sonaike quoted “The Global Report on Food Crisis 2019” as indicating that the eight greatly affected countries accounted for two-thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity, amounting to nearly 72 million people.

But he said: “This report is rather ironical, especially against the backdrop of widely reported cases of huge increase in local food production across various food crops like rice, cassava, sorghum, maize etc. in the country due largely to various favourable agricultural policies put in place and implemented by the government at all levels.

“It is also curious that while it is acknowledged that Nigeria is the highest producer of yam and cassava worldwide, the country is categorised as a food-insecure nation with heavy reliance on importation of grains, livestock products and fish. With a projected population of over 233 million by 2025, the concern for food security in the nearest future is palpable and calls for concern and immediate action by the populace and the government at all levels.”

According to him, Sunday’s discourse, which will be chaired by the immediate past governor of Osun State, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, will feature “carefully selected experts and stakeholders” such as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and a former vice chancellor of the University of Uyo, Professor Fola Lasisi, as speakers.

The discussants, he added, would include Professor Lateef Sanni of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and the coordinator of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Chief Femi Oke, as well as Dr Hameed Badmos, an expert in animal production from the University of Ilorin.

Sonaike said the association chose to focus on food security this year “because food, undoubtedly, is the most basic of all human survival needs and the starting chain of the economy as well as the base for daily life.”

He added: “Food and agriculture, by extension, is also a fundamental pillar for economic growth and development as a nation can hardly achieve and sustain its economic growth without a strong agricultural base and the reasons are obvious.

“Nigeria has correctly identified food and agricultural production, among others, as one of the areas to focus on the growth and diversification of the economy. This has started to yield results to the extent that Nigeria has become the largest economy in Africa, yet ironically, the country is still categorised as one of the few countries with high incidents of extreme poverty. This is paradoxical and calls for an expert investigation. In the light of these, we felt that experts should be called together to engage in a meaningful discourse to proffer solutions.”

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Sonaike urged the Federal Government to take more drastic measures in combating insecurity in the country, adding that incidents of community invasion, banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery had become so rampant that lives and property were no longer safe.

“Millions of farmers have either been displaced from their farmlands or dispossessed of their farmland. All of these have a negative impact on food production and constitute a major threat to food security no matter the beauty of agricultural policy put in place.

“While we commend the government on the decision to recruit 10,000 policemen in a bid to combat this menace, it is unfortunate, however, that many years after this pronouncement, the recruitment is still in progress. What does it really take to recruit 10,000 policemen in the midst of millions of unemployed youths in the country? Those concerned should be called to order,” he said.