Federal and State Governments have been urged to convene a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in the food production chain in the country with the aim of tackling food shortage in the country.
This call was made by a non-governmental organisation, Justice Development and Peace Maker’s Centre, its Rural Development Programme, SUFA among others at the annual stakeholders’ interactive forum and 30th year of RUDEP existence in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
They identified lack of sufficient food storage facilities for farmers for worsening harvest losses that farmers suffer every farming season, calling on governments to provide enough storage equipment for farmers to store and preserve their produce.
The stakeholders also underscored the need for the federal and state governments to provide globally relevant agricultural programmes for farmers and equipment them with technical knowledge to manage situation of climate change in Nigeria.
It is not news that Nigeria faces significant food security challenges exacerbated by escalating conflicts, economic instability, and soaring food prices.
This situation has been escalated by the nation’s population growth, insecurity and climate change that continue to drive hunger in the country.
Early August this year, Nigerian youths in their numbers protested economic hardship, bad governance, inflation and hunger in the country.
To address these challenges in Osun State, RUDEP and JDPMC organised Farmers, Pastoralists and Stakeholders Interactive Forum in Osogbo.
The 28th annual stakeholders’ forum themed: “Contributions of the State and Non State Actors In Agribusiness Sector Towards Building a Resilient Food System in Osun State, provided wider creation of awareness and preparation from the stakeholders in Agribusiness to discuss pressing issues on food security, climate change, insecurity and the ways forward.
The General Coordinator of JDPMC Osogbo, Rev Fr Peter Akinkunmi, harped on the need for stakeholders to educate farmers, especially the sustainable ones, to manage resources, deal with climate change and insecurity affecting level of farm produce.
Akinkunmi said, “The issue of food crisis affects communities in different ways. In South West Nigeria, our food production level is very poor when compared with other parts of the country. If you look at the extreme North where issues of security crisis are pronounced, they still have high food production rate. Even when we don’t have such a magnitude of problems in South-West, we are relying on food from Northern part of the country.
“This is why we have been providing technical knowledge to farmers on how to manage the issues of climate change and giving them proper knowledge to be able to improve food production. These farmers need experts who will stand by them and guide them and assist them to knowing how to respond to situations when they arise.
Management of food storage facilities is another issue. Even if it is modular facilities that can help communities to manage harvest, they should be provided. We need to also tell them the right time to plant. So, knowledge at every level of the agricultural chain is important; the right time to plant, the right quantity and species. To tackle harvest loss, there should be storage facilities.”
He said farmers and pastoralists should not be enemies, adding that the faith based organisation has ensured that farmers have peace in their communities. “We have helped them to cultivate peace. Insufficient investment in farmers and farm works is responsible for food crisis and that is why you see people protesting hunger,” he stated.
Akinkunmi then charged governments to have a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in the food production chain, assuring that the food crisis will be over in the country.
The representative of the state government, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Yemi Olawale, said government is not relenting in its programmes to support and distribute farm inputs to farmers in the state to ensure increase in food production.
Adelowo Adewumi, SUFA president, Osun chapter, said for the problem in food sector to be over, governments must deal with relevant stakeholders in the agriculture sector.