THE International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Nigeria chapter, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to take the issue of food security seriously.
The Chairman, ICC Nigeria, Babatunde Savage, warned that if urgent steps were not taken to encourage food production to match the growing population, there would soon be serious disaster in the country.
Savage, who is also the Regional Coordinator of the global body for sub-Saharan Africa, spoke at the 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) Lecture of the group in Lagos at the weekend.
He said food security is very important to the country and people because it forms a core plank upon which the economic recovery and growth plan of the government is anchored.
He warned that the fact that the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), a transformational initiative by the President Muhammadu Buhari-administration is delivering on its set objectives is not enough for the nation to relax.
According to him, there is need to plan for the explosion expected in population in the years to come.
Savage lamented the poor transportation infrastructure in the country. He said efforts being made by the current administration has not yielded the desired result. He complained that over 50 per cent of the federal and state roads across the country are still in poor conditions.
“This scenario does not depict any level of seriousness expected if we must, as a country, achieve the earmarked goals of the Transformation Agenda,” he said.
The guest lecturer on the occasion, Dr. Victor Ajieroh, who is the Senior Programmes Officer, Nutrition Nigeria, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said food systems are very important to the Foundation because it believes that all lives have equal value.
According to him, every efficient food system should be able to deliver high quality diet and affordable nutrition, inclusive, efficient and sustainable as well as resilient, sustainable and able to take shocks.
Ajieroh said every high quality diet should be able to eliminate hunger, reduce all forms of malnutrition and promote sound health. Anything short of this, he stated, is an indication that the food system quality is nothing to write home about.
He said with his experience at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, many food systems globally are yet to produce high quality diets, a situation he said required urgent attention by all stakeholders.
He said: “Our food systems are not yet producing high quality diets, as one in every three people worldwide are malnourished.”
However, he acknowledged that the scenarios are not constant as the global and local food systems regularly change as a result of policy interventions from governments and businesses.
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