By Nneoma Ahukanna and Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu
Now more than ever before, it has become very imperative that every Nigerian citizen must embrace one aspect of Agriculture or the other for the sake of food sufficiency and sustainability.
The hunger and starvation rate in Africa’s most populous
country Nigeria, has reached alarming proportions, according to a Voice of
America, VOA report, millions of Nigerians are struggling with how to
meet even the barest of basic needs daily. In fact the UN estimated last year
that about 25 million Nigerians (15% of the total population) are at the verge
of starvation.
Analysts say main factors contributing to this
include climate change, regional instability and inflation.
The situation worsened after the federal government
removed fuel subsidy payment a year ago, May 29, 2023, sharply spiralling
to increase in prices of food, transportation, medicine, other
essentials and energy. The devaluation of the naira is another contributor to
hike in commodity price and overall inflation.
According to the World in Data analysis, Nigeria is one
of the countries with highest food expenditure by citizens with an estimated
60% of total personal income spent on feeding.
Experts say that unless something changes, the situation
will worsen and vulnerable households will be most adversely impacted by hunger
and starvation.
The question now is, What and how much are
Nigerians and government at all levels doing to combat rising hunger in
the land?
Due to food insecurity which has reached an
all time record breaking level, Nigeria's first Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu
through her the Renewed Hope Initiative RHI recently launched a groundbreaking
competition open to women Nationwide known as the ‘Every home a garden’ to
encourage first time female farmers to cultivate home gardens. This comes with
the opportunity to win a substantial 25 million Naira Prize.
According to the First Lady's media aide, Busola Kukoyi, ‘The participants must showcase their gardening prowess through a 30 minute video which will be rated by panel of Judges.
‘The competition is open to every woman from all the
states of the federation including the FCT. It entails them planting a garden
at home whereby the harvest can provide food on the table and enough to share
with their neighbour.
The winner will be announced in December 2024 and will go
home with 20 million prize money,’ she said.
The offices of the 36 states first Ladies are supervising,
and anchoring the project as all entries in the competition will be sent to
them and they in turn will forward the best to the Office of the President's
wife.
Another commendable effort by a group called Imo
state volunteer for grassroot development in ensuring food security for
Imolites is worth mentioning here. In a press release signed by the central
planning secretary, Anochiri C.H, announcing the launch of the Imo food
security programme in June with the objective of ensuring Access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food regardless of socioeconomic status by
establishment of community gardens and support urban Agricultural
programmes to encourage food sufficiency in areas where access to land may be
limited.
By creating communal spaces for cultivation and engaging
urban residents, we can foster a sense of ownership and responsibility
towards our local food production." Anochiri stated.
Apart from cultivation, food storage, preservation and
distribution would be adequately addressed by collaboration with relevant stakeholders
to minimize loss of harvested crops among other things are to be achieved
by the group.
What part are individuals playing in combating
hunger especially as it concerns farming?
Farming in Nigeria is undergoing a significant shift this
year, with many individuals turning to agriculture due to increasing hunger and
high food costs. Chigozie Ekenze expressed, ‘A lot of people are getting into
farming this year because of the hunger in the state and high cost of food in
the country. But the problem we have is this weather problem, which could be
climate change. The rain is not falling as it should so it is affecting farm
work because a lot of people are waiting for the rain to start falling properly
so that they will start planting.’
Ekenze also pointed out, ‘The increment in fuel and high
rate of dollar in the country and other factors that cause this hardship are
making people push into farming. So that they will get most of the product in
the farm. If a paint of garri is 3500 and above, if a lot of people go into
farm the prices of foodstuffs will reduce because a lot of people have the
foodstuffs.’
He encouraged people to go into farming to reduce the
high cost of living and food prices, stating, ‘I encourage people to go into
farming; it will reduce the high cost of living and the high prices of
foodstuff in the market because when a good number of people go into farming
and are able to produce enough farm produce, you will see that the prices will
reduce.’
George Nwokoro, popularly known as M.C. Bush, shared his
insight, saying, ‘In other years, people farmed, but this year there’s a
noticeable increase in farming activities. The main reason is the sharp rise in
food prices; everyone is diving into farming to ensure they have enough to eat,
including me and my family.’
This observation highlights a significant shift in
behaviour and priorities within the community. While farming may have been a
routine activity in the past, the current economic situation has compelled
people to prioritise food production for their own sustenance. The urgency to
secure food has prompted individuals to take up farming more actively than
before, reflecting the resilience and adaptability of the community in the face
of adversity.’
Onyekwere Edmund, Chairman of Umudurumba Uba Ifakala,
shared his challenges, saying, ‘This year me and my family are working more
than four plots of land so as to get what to eat. But the problem now is
material for doing this farm work, we don’t have them. I beg the government to
help us.
He continued, ‘A bag of fertiliser is about 15,000 naira.
It is not easy to get it. Hoe for working in the farm is not less than 10,000
naira while before with 500 naira you could buy a good hoe to work but it is no
longer like that now. With fuel on the increase, everything automatically goes
high in price.’
Edmund emphasised the struggle after harvesting, saying,
‘After harvesting the cassava, if you take it to the cassava mill to grind, the
money they will collect from you to grind it will be more than the cassava
itself. As of now, I have eight children that I am feeding; we are all into the
farm finding what to eat. If I harvest the ones I have, I will sell some and
use the money to buy the ones that I don’t have. Please, we are urging the government
to come to help us. We are hungry.’
He concluded, ‘The work we did now we have up to two
years to start harvesting them. So, now that we haven’t started harvesting the
produce, we need money and support for the farming. To call a labourer to help you
for daily pay, you will spend 5000 naira. So we need money to survive.’
