Absence of coherent national food security, nutrition policy, a ticking time bomb, says FAO Consultant

Professor Julius Ipadeola Olaifa is a consultant to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The renowned toxicologist of the Department of Agronomy, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, spoke with BODE DUROJAIYE on nutrition and food security in the country.
Olaifa said lack of coherent national food security and nutrition policy for the country is a ticking time bomb ready to explode, in view of its serious implications on human survival, national growth and development.
He stated that the policy, if put in place is capable of
transforming communities into healthy and productive food-secure villages, ensuring reliable and consistent access to safe, affordable, abundant, and diverse supplies of nutritious food.
The toxicologist pointed out that hunger has devastating effects on the daily health and economic productivity of more than 80 per cent of Nigerians, adding that even those with access to food often suffer terribly from malnutrition.
“Children especially suffer, not only from the direct effect of
malnutrition, but from increased susceptibility to disease and other health risks, such as neonatal disorders, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Under-nutrition is the underlying cause of maternal mortality each year.”
He further posited that hunger and under nutrition also affects
economic development in both near and long term, while illness, hunger
and the need to care for ill children reduces income, particularly for
women.
Condemning the immediate past government for spending N10 billion annually on food import, he noted that former President Goodluck Jonathan was more rhetorical, and not pragmatic, in reducing food import bill.
“What Nigerians need is serious approach to revitalize the
agricultural sector as is being done by the present administration and not the cosmetic approach being given to it by the last administration.
“Imagine billions of naira wasted annually on importation of wheat, when the chain values of cassava is yet to be fully exploited, let alone other products like mangoes. A lot of natural and agricultural resources abound for instance in Oke-Ogun areas of Oyo State, but no one, not even the government is tapping them. This is why it is imperative for state governments to rehabilitate all their farm settlements, in order to improve agriculture. These resources alone can generate employment for thousands of jobless youths in the area”
On how best to transform the agricultural sector, Olaifa suggested increasing household access to agricultural inputs and credit,
improving, natural resource management, and linking agricultural outputs with local, regional, and national markets.
According to him, “others include reducing livelihood vulnerability and increasing resiliency, working with communities to increase access to water, as well as developing customized plans to ensure availability, access and utilization of food is stable and sustainable over a long –term”.
He, however, advocated a sustainable social welfare policy that would address problems that might arise when markets do not provide adequate mechanisms to deal with economic uncertainties.
This, according to him, will ascertain the nature of the risks
individuals face in a given society, in order to tailor policies
towards meeting these risks in a sustainable fashion.
“Part of the consideration should be based on the fact that
agriculture and informal economies are very important because they account for 70 percent employment of the teeming population. This implies that social welfare programme should address issues on income uncertainties due to the fortuity of informal activities, which fluctuate considerably.”
He lamented over the limited coverage of social security systems in
the country, which he noted raises serious equity issues, as societal
valuable resources and efforts are often targeted at small and
privileged segment of the population.
Said he,“the Nigerian population on average is young, and is
expected to remain like that over the period between 40-50 years.
This age structure affects the behaviour and the demand for social
security services. But alas, budgetary allocation for agriculture
ought to have been increased from its present 30 percent to 70
percent. If this age structure can be properly co-opted and
coordinated into agriculture, it will not only prop up employment
generation, but reduce crimes, restiveness and other anti-social
activities in our society.”
Olaifa stated that there is hardly no state in the country that is not
effectively productive.
“Agriculture production is sustain by peasant farmers, as long as we
have good weather, no global warming, coupled with ample rainfall,
that is what we need for crop production, cassava, maize, yam,
fishery, poultry, are produce in the South-West, and is anybody
complaining of low productivity? What of South-South and the
South-East that has oil palm. Equally too are the onion, pepper,
goats, and sheep coming from the North to the South. What of pepper,
carrots, and others.’’
The FAO consultant noted that the user thing often talked about is
right, which, according to him, has become political crop in the
country.
“Politicians play politics with rice. They assumed it is the only food
commodity in the country, which is wrong. They have forgotten yams,
plantains, which are produce locally, From Lagos to Maiduguri, Port
Harcourt to Enugu and Ibadan, where is yam nor taken as food? Yet, yam
farmers across the country are not given the kind of attention given
to rice until recently. The present administration is interested in
rice, and is pragmatically improving its production locally”
Olaifa, however, pointed out that the major problem confronting
the country presently is food processing.
“What have we developed from yam, cassava plantain, for instance, other than garri, fufu, and chips? It is the present generation that started garri, fufu, and even the chips. We should develop new products from these commodities. China, Malaysia and Indonesia have no other crops other than rice. See thousands of products developed from rice. That is what we need now, Government should seriously invest now”.