By Emeka Nwokocha
The World Food Summit in 1996 defined food security as ‘the ability of all people to access safe, nutritious food at all times.’
In line with the above definition, it is incontrovertibly obvious that Nigeria is faced with chronic food insecurity ravaging the polity.
Against the backdrop of the seeming intractable food crisis in the country currently, one is compelled to ask what measures the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari is adopting to timeously address the ravaging scourge? Does the Minister have the magic wand to reposition the agriculture sector for increased production of food to meet the dietary need of the growing population?
These questions are germane against the backdrop of the urgent need to boost food production and halt the excruciating hunger confronting poor Nigerians.
My recent probe on the web identifies the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari as former member of the Nigerian Senate. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Martin, and an MBA from Webster University, St. Louis.
The Minister’s profile, for me, is acceptably robust and apt for a ministerial position, and relatively not unfit to oversee the affairs of the agriculture ministry.
Sen. Kyari is superintending a very crucial ministry that is very essential for the peoples survival. So, he is duty bound to prove his mettle on the job.
But whether he would have the verve and commitment to do the needful and put things right in the agriculture sector and urgently promote food security is the crux of the matter.
Truth is, the uncertainties defining food production in the country cannot be treated with kid gloves.
They are seriously calling for the attention of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to act proactively to tackle the seeming intractable food crisis.
Just recently, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) expressed deep concern about 33 million people at the risk of facing severe food crisis in Nigeria in 2025 if drastic measures are not taken to combat worsening food crisis.
To validate the WFP’s warning is the report from UNICEF stating that an estimated 2 million children in Nigerian are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
Without mincing words, these warnings are dire, so, Sen. Kyari must not feign ignorance of this looming catastrophe – they are a clarion call on the him to take drastic measures to catalyse productivity in agriculture and halt the alarming food insecurity agonizing the people. The time is ticking!
It is pertinent to draw the attention of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security to the compelling need for better funding of agriculture to increase food security, improve rural livelihoods, and reduce poverty.
Suffice it to say that despite the growing concern about food insecurity in Nigeria, budgetary allocations to the agriculture sector over the years have been abysmally low, and have not exceeded two per cent of the country’s annual budgets – a clear statement of fact affirming that our national budgets on agriculture fall short of the 10 per cent benchmark recommended at the ‘Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods in 2014.
For emphasis, out of the N49.7trn budget for 2025 fiscal year, a paltry N826.5billion, representing 1.7 per cent of the total budget is allocated to agriculture.
Such meagre allocation to the agriculture sector speaks volume of the government’s near total neglect of the crucial food production sector of the country’s economy. This narratives must change to chart a better course for the Nigerian agriculture sector.
Without doubts, the ugly narratives defining the developments in the agriculture sector with regard to poor funding is a full proof that the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, and the President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu are not in touch with the reality of the ‘chronic’ food crisis besetting the country, just as they apparently do not have effectual policy and strategy to catalyse productivity in the agriculture sector and promote food security.
Nigerians are hungry, they anxiously yearn for a better life that offers them unrestricted access to nutritious, safe and affordable food at all times. It is truly possible and doable only if the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security would be ready to do the needful to address the current food crisis.
If the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security would acknowledge the challenges in the agriculture sector, he must not play dumb on the obvious fact that a mere 1.7 per cent budgetary allocation to agriculture in 2025 signals a lack of commitment to the sector and further neglect of the agricultural sector.
Until the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari takes up the gauntlet to nip the challenges confronting the agriculture sector in the bud, the hurting trend of food crisis with attendant starvation will continue to batter poor Nigerians.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari must act fast to cushion the ravaging hunger in the country.
The situation is frightening..!
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