FG’s new commitment to food security

During the marking of this year’s World Food Day, the Federal Government reiterated its resolve to ensure food security for all Nigerians through improving food processing, storage facilities and reducing food losses. This is coming at a time the agricultural sector has achieved 4.39 per cent growth and contributed so much to our non-oil exports. The Minister of State for Agriculture for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, stated this during the commemoration of the 2026 World Food Day with the theme, “Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow.” According to the minister, the theme captures the fundamental reality that tomorrow’s food security will be determined by today’s innovations. He also stated that the ministry is implementing a comprehensive approach to transform the nation’s agricultural sector into a productive, resilient, competitive and investment-driven sector that will feed the population and ensure economic growth. Invariably, this will ensure that we produce more food, reduce food losses and strengthen agricultural value chain. Under the new agricultural initiative, farmers will also make more profits from their farm produce and also benefit from research, and storage inputs, finance, marketing and others. In her message to mark the occasion, the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, called for greater investment in agricultural innovation and reduction of food waste in order to strengthen the nation’s food security as well as ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all Nigerians. She also observed that the event offered an opportunity to reflect on the importance of embracing innovation as well as preserving traditional knowledge that enhances food systems. The First Lady believed that combining modern innovations with indigenous agricultural practices is essential to building sustainable food systems that would meet the nutritional needs of present and future generations. She urged Nigerians to support our farmers, reduce food waste and promote sustainable practices that will ensure access to safe and nutritious food for every family. In the same vein, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the state plans to increase its food self-sufficiency from 20 per cent to 40 per cent via innovation, infrastructure and partnerships to meet the demand of the people. The governor, who stated this at the grand finale of the 2026 World food Day celebration at the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja, pointed out that despite Lagos being the smallest state by landmass with over 22 million people; it cannot achieve food security by expanding farmland but by producing more food on available land, partnering with other states, processing more food and reducing waste. He said that this year’s theme underscores the need for practical solutions to hunger and malnutrition. Sanwo-Olu expressed optimism that his administration’s Five-Year Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap would increase Lagos’ food self-sufficiency from about 20 per cent to 40 per cent of its food demand. He promised that Lagos State would invest in skills, finance, technology and market access for stakeholders in the food value chain. It would also reduce post-harvest losses through storage, processing and logistics. The governor also harped on the need to balance food affordability, nutrition and environmental sustainability. Similarly, the UNESCO International Centre for Biotechnology (ICB) has said that Nigeria loses 40 to 50 per cent of its produce to post-harvest waste due to lack of cold chain, drying facilities, power and processing infrastructure, stressing that over 60 to 70 per cent of agricultural values are wasted after harvest. To reduce food losses and ensure food security, the UN agency recently signed a Memoranda of Understanding with six partner institutions to drive food security via biotechnology research, innovation and collaboration. The Executive Director of the Centre, Prof. Umezurike Linus Opara, also pointed that low productivity is another major challenge affecting many Nigerian crops, which ranges between 30 and 40 per cent. He averred that biotechnology would help to improve the quality of seeds, pest and disease resistance. He opined that if this is complemented by irrigation and proper fertilizer use, it will significantly raise crops yields. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), global food security faces deep systemic pressures from undernourishment, climate shocks, resource depletion and economic instability. Not less than 733 million or 91 per cent of the global population were undernourished in 2023. Unfortunately, Africa has the highest prevalence of undernourishment at 20.4 per cent, while Asia hosts the largest total number of undernourished people put at 384.5million. Roughly one-third of the global population suffers from malnutrition or micronutrient deficiencies and one-third of all produced food is lost or wasted annually. The World Food Programme (WFP) says that Nigeria faces a severe and worsening food insecurity crisis, with an estimated 35 million to 36.3 million people experiencing acute food insecurity. Also, in the Global Hunger Index (GHI), Nigeria ranks 117th out of 122 countries with a score of34.3 categorised as having a serious hunger level. Arising from the above statistics, the federal and state governments should take pragmatic and proactive actions to ensure food affordability and sustainability for all Nigerians. With enough rich arable land, Nigerians should never be hungry. There is need for mechanised farming as well as the use of biotechnology to improve our farm yields and curb crops loss and waste. Let all states emulate the good example from Lagos State and contribute meaningfully to the nation’s food security and sufficiency programme. Tags:

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