Nigeria: Reflections on Food Availability, Access and Consumption

Food as common as it seems, which rudimentarily has been necessitated to be one of the basic needs of man has been abused in so many ways. I guess you are surprised?

With tonnes of food waste recorded every year which are not properly utilized, are you beginning to wonder why the sudden shortage in food with the geometrical increase in human population.

What then is food security?

Food security is the measure of the availability of food and individuals' ability to access it. According to the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, food security is defined as meaning that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

In Nigeria, the report processed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - FMARD and other stakeholders, analyses acute food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel and West African region. The report said the food crisis will affect Nigerians in 21 states and FCT including, 416,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). It noted that about 14.4 million people including 385,000 IDPs in 21 States and FCT of Nigeria are already in the food crisis.

The analysis for the month of March covered Abia, Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Sokota, Tarba, Yobe, and Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However, high inflation in soaring food commodity prices, which could be associated with an economic downturn, will contribute to the hunger crisis, loss of employment and reduction in household income due to the long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and displacement arising from conflict and armed banditry as evident across Nigeria

There are various challenges along the food value-chain of production, distribution, processing and storage. These include climate change, insurgency and conflict in many parts of the country, natural disasters and pandemic-related shocks, which all affect food production and push food prices up. Given the scale of these challenges for Nigeria, achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 of zero hunger and other related SDGs may be a tall order. Food insecurity is a thorn in the flesh, as more population index triples; it becomes a struggle for existence.

Causes of food insecurity and reduction in access to food:

In addition to the much that have already been highlighted, the following are other causes of food insecurity:

1. Teeming populace, most developed countries of the world have some regulatory rules that guide the population index by limiting and passing into bills reducing reproductive responsibility on parents. In Nigeria and a number of countries currently grappling with foof insecurity - this is not the case.
2. Very evident lack of access to proper storage facilities as well as proper recycling systems.
3. Lack of highly skilled and professional work-force for the agricultural sector.
4. Poor land management and maintenance.
5. Conflict and violence are also exacerbating food insufficiency in Nigeria, as the country is still characterized by high reliance on food imports.

Recommendations and Possible Solutions To Reduce Food Waste.

The following are key recommendations

1. Reduce the usual risks associated with agro commercialisation.
2. Improve existing infrastructural programs.
3. Improve trade policies.
4. Promote diversification.
5. Close the yield gap.
6. Work towards tolling down the effect of climate change.

Conclusively, we must put in our best foot forward by being the change we want ourselves through reduction in food wastage, if 1.5% of food wastage is reduced in each family, industry and sector each day; in no distant time this menace will be reduced if not completely eradicated.