The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Food

  • Firm reiterates commitment to food production

    Firm reiterates commitment to food production

    Elephant Group Plc, one of the leading agro-allied companies, has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring adequate food production and sufficiency, in line with the Federal Government’s mission of self sufficiency in food.

    The group restated that it was determined to support the agriculture sector and boost incomes and job-led growth.

    Its Group Managing Director, Mr. Tunji Owoeye,  said, in a statement, signed by the company’s Media Consultant, Mr. Babatunde Ajibola,  that:  “Our mission is to offer the best of our experience in agriculture , garnered over the years into planting and producing adequate food for the people in order for the nation to be self-sufficient in food production, since as we all know, the goverment is striving to make agriculture the main stay of the economy; we are all out in ensuring this becomes a reality.”

    Its Executive Director, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, restated the group’s commitment to making food sufficiency a reality within the shortest time. He enjoined the people to join hands with the government to make the vision a reality.

  • Food security and S/West governors

    Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be servant of all” – Jesus Christ (Mark 10:43)

    Last week, tomatoes and vegetables disappeared from Lagos markets. This was attributed to disruption in the regular flow of some food items from the north to the south by the sallah holiday. Our inability to feed ourselves 17 years into the fourth republic is perhaps a clear manifestation of deficit of Christ’s defined attributes of servant-leadership among some of our clowning South-west ‘activists’, the ‘constituted authority and ‘Oshokomole – Ebora tin je jollof’ governors who behave and act as if they are beyond reproach or that leadership is about being hailed by sycophants, thugs and okada commercial motorcyclists.

    But it has not always been like this. We were once blessed selfless leaders and role models with templates for developmental strategies that did not only guarantee self-sufficiency in food production but promises of a more just, egalitarian society. We remember with nostalgia the selfless services of leaders like Obafemi Awolowo, S L Akintola, Anthony Enahoro, Oduola Osuntokun Abraham Adesanya, and their other colleagues who left a lasting legacy in education, health, housing and agriculture with judicious management of the little resources available to them. Their second republic successors such as Olabisi Victor Onabanjo, Lateef Jakande, Bola Ige, Ambrose Alli and Adekunle Ajasin who as governor refused to spend N50, 000 to fix a leaking government house claiming Ondo State could not afford the luxury at the time, followed the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors by providing quality service to their people. The fourth republic threw up Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Niyi Adebayo, Segun Osoba and Pa Bisi Akande who like Jakande used his personal car as official car until the state forced him to abandon it. Like their predecessors, they selflessly served the people and we today remember them with melancholy.

    The crisis of leadership in the West started in 2003 when Obasanjo under his dubious mainstreaming policy decided to impose leaders on the West. He was to become a godfather to the likes of Lucky Igbinedion, Segun Agagu, Ayo Fayose, Segun Oni, Gbenga Daniel and Olagunsoye Oyinlola as well as other ambitious individuals such as journalists, academics and other professionals who, following their losses in the primary elections of their parties, were seduced by Obasanjo federal government’s offer of funds, security and vehicles to destabilize south-west.

    Obasanjo’s hand-picked leaders as it turned out, unlike their predecessors, served none but themselves. Igbinedion left Benin City after eight years in office like a war-torn city. Fayose traded a College of Medicine for a fraudulent poulty farm during his first coming; Oni took Ekiti through three years of nightmare while fighting to keep a mandate the courts finally ruled he never won. His major legacy includes foisting three universities, including the one sited in his village on Ekiti that had no resources to effectively run one. Olagunsoye  Oyinlola who admitted to a judicial commission of inquiry of awarding and paying in advance contractors to build stadia around some towns in Osun State and Gbenga Daniel who went around Ogun State with ex-President Jonathan commissioning uncompleted  and yet to take off projects.

    With Obasanjo’s humiliating defeat by Tinubu, some of the immediate and current leadership which represents the mainstream south-west political orientation were expected to have taken after their first and second and republic forbearers. Unfortunately they seem to have found their shoes too big.

    Let us start with Ekiti, the land of honour.  Fayemi no doubt made some impact in education and social welfare. But with Ekiti State as the 35th  out of 36th on the nation’s revenue ladder, diverting N2.7b of the  N25 billion bond  his administration secured from the capital market to build a grandiose government house because the then ‘Osuntokun Lodge lacked many facilities befitting of the residence of a governor  and therefore very inferior’ to other government houses in the country was indefensible when his government could have rehabilitated the run-down  Ikun Dairy farm established by Ajasin in the second republic as part of solution to a geographical region that depends on other geographical zones for the 10,000 heads of cow  it consumes daily.

    Aregbesola, after retrieving his stolen mandate through the courts had enjoyed tremendous support and goodwill of the people, all of which he seems to have frittered away because of his leadership style. Although he swears by Awo’s name, he appears to be his own role model. His rather insensitive comment about the state of mind of Ademola Adeleke who recently defeated his APC candidate in the Osun south senatorial by-election after rightly reminding Ede people that the senatorial seat was not hereditary seem to confirm the fears of those who argue Aregbesola has been wearing a shoe bigger than his leg.

    Ajimobi during his first term, keyed into Buhari’s  green alternative initiative which focuses on commercial agriculture development programme, by allocating tractors, planters and harvesters to each of the 33 local government areas. Most of those equipment are however said to have either been sold off or mismanaged by past caretaker chairmen while he as ‘the constituted authority’ battles those who put him in power especially students of Oyo State tertiary institutions who have been out of schools for the greater part of the year and their civil servants and pensioners parents who have not been paid for several months.

    Ajimobi who started well is also today enmeshed in Ibadan traditional chieftaincy controversy as he apes ill-informed military men who unilaterally made kings out of ‘Baales’ as he creates, by fiat, kings with crowns and sceptres without kingdoms.

    While Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State on his part is striving to turn his state to number one industrial hub in Nigeria with plans to build airport before 2019, two years to the end of his second four years term, his plan towards agriculture that will lead to industrialisation remains a plan. In any case, since people have to eat before the transformation of agriculture from commercialization to industrialization, keying into the Buhari agriculture initiatives designed to achieve food security, alleviate rural poverty and end hunger ought to be the starting point.

    If leadership, as Sun Tzu, (Chinese General, and 544–496BC) has said “is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline”, a well-focused Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos who operates as a servant rather than a ‘constituted authority’ better appropriates the virtues of his forbearers. After insisting “there is no alternative to achieving food security other than tilling the land and embrace best practices that will improve efficiency in the agricultural value chain”, he has in practical terms sealed a landmark partnership with Kebbi State government for the development of agricultural commodities such as rice, wheat, groundnut, onion, maize and beef value chain. His government has also acquired 500 hectares of farm land for rice cultivation in Eggua, Ogun State, 84.7 hectares at Okinni in Osogbo for oil palm processing.

  • Elephant group committed to adequate food production

    Elephant group committed to adequate food production

    Elephant Group Plc. a leading agro-allied company has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring adequate food production and sufficiency for the populace in line with the Federal Government mission to produce enough food in the country for its citizenry.
    The company’s group managing director, Mr. Tunji Owoeye reaffirmed the commitment in Lagos recently.
    In a press release signed by Mr. Babatunde Ajibola, the Company’s Media Consultant, Mr. Owoeye  said ” our mission is to offer the best of our experience in agriculture, garnered over the years into planting and producing adequate food for the people in order for the nation to be self -sufficient in food production.”.
    “Since as we all know, the govt is striving to make agriculture the main stay of the economy; we are all out in ensuring this becomes a reality”
    The Executive Director of the group, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, also stated that the Elephant Group is out to plant seeds of Economic growth both in the country & Africa at large.
    He also reinstated the groups commitment in making food sufficiency a reality within the shortest time possible, while enjoining the people to join hands together with the govt. to make the vision a reality.
  • Towards more food production

    Towards more food production

    As Nigeria and other developing countries are expected to witness rapid urbanisation by 2050, experts say food security challenges will  be immense. They advised the government to target its strategies at ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition. But this can only be achieved when rural-urban linkages are strengthened. It was the main point during the launch of the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Food Policy Report  in Abuja. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

    As Nigeria  and other developing countries are expected        to witness rapid urbanisation by 2050, one major task will  be to produce enough food  for the teeming population, a report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has said.

    The report noted that food security challenges would increase.

    IFPRI, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Bioversity International, and other partners, released the report.

    It examines the impact of rapid urban growth on food security and nutrition, saying that food systems would be transformed to improve the future.

    The report was unveiled at the International Conference in Abuja.

    In his opening remarks, IFPRI Director-General, Dr. Shenggen Fan, pointed out  that  increasing   urbanisation is making the goals of ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture difficult to achieve. For instance, he maintained that rapid urbanisation in Nigeria affect food security challenges.

    Fan added that Nigeria, China, and India were expected to have 900 million urban residents by 2050.

    He said: “Helping policy makers, city residents, and rural smallholders in the developing world understand this changing environment, and how to respond to it, is absolutely necessary to achieve the sustainable development agenda.’’

    He stressed that cities should provide opportunities for rural smallholders to raise their incomes by connecting to larger urban markets and more wealthy urban consumers.

    “Urbanisation is driving huge changes in how small farmers connect with markets to sell their goods, global diets, and the way that food systems are governed,” Fan said.

    He added: “For urban consumers small farmers can provide an important source of diverse and nutritious foods. But the links between these areas in the developing world are often weak or broken, hindering growth and development.’’

    Fan stressed that rural infrastructure, including quality rural and feeder roads, electricity, and storage facilities, were essential for pro-poor growth, agricultural development, and improved livelihoods.

    According to him, inadequate rural infrastructure leads to isolation of communities and is associated with poverty and poor nutrition.

    On rice, Fan observed  that 60 percent of rice purchased in urban areas  in Nigeria  is imported, despite significant efforts to boost domestic production, attributing this to a weak value chain for postharvest processing of domestic rice. He said had created inconsistencies in labelling, quality, and taste that turn off urban consumers.

    He said: “The country imports close to 60 percent of the crop, despite producing enough rice to feed its population. Urban residents cite inconsistencies in quality, labeling, and taste as their main concerns —problems that arise from poor vertical integration in the domestic rice value chain.

    “Lack of standard seeds and milling facilities infrastructure along the value chain has led to consumers’ preference to consume imported rice.”

    In addition, he noted that the rice sector is characterised by highly fragmented domestic value chain, and that small and medium sized rice millers with varying skills and degrees of access to information and services produce 80 percent of local rice.

    Commenting on the report, Senior Research Fellow and Programme Leader, IFPRI’s Nigeria Country Strategy Programme, Dr George Mavrotas, added: “Africapolis: Measuring Urbanisation Dynamics in West Africa (2016) recently identified 1,236 agglomerations in Nigeria, of which more than 80 percent had more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2010.

    “The report also re-assessed the level of urbanisation in Nigeria at 46 percent, up from 31 percent since the previous urbanisation report on Nigeria back in 2008. This presents an enormous challenge and many opportunities for food policy in the country in the years to come.”

    He maintained that strong rural-urban linkageswould help propel economic development and improvements in food security and nutrition.

    In his welcome remarks, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media & Public Affairs, representing Niger North Senatorial District at the  National Assembly, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, congratulated IFPRI for putting together the report which emphasised the important links between food security and nutrition in an urbanising world.

    Besides Fan and Mavrotas, other panelists included Senior Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Andrew Kwasari; Deputy Director, Food and Nutrition, National Committee on Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Roselyn Gabriel; Senior Program Officer for Nutrition, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Office in Nigeria, Dr. Victor Ajieroh; and Nutrition Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr. Bamidele Davis Omotola.

    IFPRI is a United States-based international agricultural research established in 1975 to identify and analyse alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries.

  • Oyedepo laments Nigeria’s dependence on food import

    BISHOP, Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has described the country’s over-dependence on imported agriculture produce as dangerous.

    Oyedepo, lamented that   Nigeria that is blessed with abundant resources has no need for importing chickens. By doing so, he said, Nigeria has brought in diseases unknowingly with imported food.

    The senior cleric stated this in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, at the convocation lecture of Landmark University, Omu-Aran.

    He said neglecting agriculture is tantamount to mortgaging the future of Nigeria.

    Oyedepo said: “We must shift from theory to things that address human issues. We need to come back, to the real issues confronting use. We need to start creating solutions. A country that is enormously blessed as Nigeria has no basis to import chickens from any part of the world.

    “We must invest in agricultural service to create the future of our dream, and that is raw agric practices.

    “We can solve our problems if we are committed enough, but I don’t think we are that committed. Everybody must play his own part in solving the problem of food security in the world. Africa is the worst hit by the food insecurity ravaging the world. Let us give the people in other parts of the world the impression that Nigerians are thinking.”

    Earlier, the convocation lecturer, who is the Managing Partner, Sahel Capital AgriBusiness Managers, Menzuo Nwunei, said  Nigeria is not self-sufficient in food production, as it imports over 45 percent of its food needs.

    “Nigeria’s food imports have historically grown at a rate of 11 per cent per year. The country’s major dependence on food imports is hurting local production, reducing local farmers’ welfare and contributing to increasing unemployment,” Nwunei said.

    “Domestic inflation at about 18 per cent is fuelled in part, by the demand for expensive food imports. The demand for food imports has placed download pressure on the value of the naira and contributed to depleting foreign reserves,” he added

    He said Nigeria’s import dependency is uneconomically sustainable and, therefore, should be unacceptable.

    According to him, agriculture is the most important sector of  the  economy, but remains dominated by smallholder farmers who operate at a subsistence level.

    Quoting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the guest speaker said that between 2007 and last year, over $113 billion was the foreign investment in Nigeria.

    “Of and agribusiness-related investments, the preponderance of the investment went into activities outside the major cities. About $427 million was geared towards agribusiness-related investments,” he added.

    “Even with this increase in investment, over $5 billion is needed to provide required financing for farmers and agribusinesses,” he added.

  • Address food productivity, others, expert urges

    Vice President Corporate & Government Relations, Olam Nigeria, Ade Adefeko, has urged farmers and the food industry to address the challenge of agricultural competitiveness and productivity.

    Speaking during Akindelano Legal Practitioners’ seminar on Transforming Nigeria’s Agriculture and Agro-Allied Industry  in Lagos, Adefeko stressed the need for practical support to farmers on improving quality and cutting costs to improve competitiveness.

    He explained that the private sector has an important role to play in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through initiatives  that  will benefit thousands of farmers, both women and men, across the  sector.

    According to him, improving rice production will help the  agri-sector  will help the  sector to  increase profitability sustainably, and improve farmer livelihoods.

    He announced that  Olams as a way of supporting the industry has rolled out sustainable agricultural standards and practices throughout its rice-production value chain .

    Adefeko said Olam was investing $150 million to set up two state-of-the-art animal feed mills, poultry breeding farms and a hatchery to produce day-old-chicks in Nigeria.

    He said the project will be Nigeria’s largest integrated animal feed mill, breeding farm and hatchery. He said $100 million had been committed to building and operating the facilities in Kaduna State while $50 million is for a second investment in an integrated poultry and fish feed mill located in Kwara State.

    The other investment is thev ongoing development of a 10,000-hectare rice farm and mill in Nasarawa State.

    To support Nigeria’s quest for rice self-sufficiency, he  said Olam aims to scale up production to over 40,000mt of paddy rice yearly.

  • CBN promises more support for food production

    CBN promises more support for food production

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has promised better support for farmers to boost food production.

    Speaking while inspecting rice farms in Itane, Ketar Fulani and Gwadan Gwaji villages in Kebbi State, as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to make the country food sufficient, Emefiele stressed  the government‘s commitment to agricultural production, adding that the bank was ready to provide support to farmers and commercial banks as they advance agricultural development in the country.

    Emefiele, who was accompanied by  Kebbi State Governor, Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu and the representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh, Alhaji Azeez Musibau Olumuyiwa, a director in the ministry, affirmed that the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) was yielding result due to farmers’ access to good seedlings, pesticides and fertiliser, as well as support from the state government.

    Emefiele, who expressed satisfaction with farmers who listened to the clarion call to embrace farming as a business venture, said the major objectives of ABP had been largely achieved.

    According to him, the objectives of the ABP include assisting rural small holder farmers to grow from subsistence to commercial production level, increasing capacity utilisation, creating jobs, reducing poverty, and increasing banks’ financing of the agricultural sector, among others.

    He expressed confidence that  Nigeria’s target to feed herself would be achieved.

    Observing that some farmers were yet  to register for the Bank Verification Number (BVN), Emefiele urged the farmers to do so to enable them  access  the ABP facility. He assured that the  facility would be spread to many people.

    Bagudu, who is also the chairman of the National Task Force on Rice and Wheat, said the objective of the tour was to see how farmers and processors were responding to the call by President Muhammadu Buhari to grow more food as well as the impact of ABP.

    Attributing the bumper harvest in all the 31 rice-producing states to the political motivation of the Buhari-led administration, as well as interventions of the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, he said the goal of making Nigeria self-sufficient was on course.

    Bagudu hinted that the state government was ready to provide paddies to millers on credit, urging the Federal Government to provide more silos as many farmers were still holding paddies at their homes.

    He praised the CBN for its intervention, assuring the bank that his government would continue to collaborate with the CBN to ensure thatABP’s objectives were met.

    Also, Ogbeh assured of the ministry’s commitment to working with the CBN to ensure the success of the agricultural intervention programmes, in line with the Federal Government’s aspiration.

  • WFP, Yobe Agric agency collaborate on food security

    WFP, Yobe Agric agency collaborate on food security

    The Yobe State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have expressed their commitment to ending hunger in the state.

    During a visit by a WFP team to ADP office in Yobe, the organisations expressed concern over the need to ensure that people displaced by Boko Haram insurgency received food assistance and seeds for planting through collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

    ADP’s Programme Manager Alhaji Mustapha Goggobe told the team led by WFP Head of Area Office, Maiduguri, Ms. Mutinta Chimuka, that WFP had been a worthy partner in the fight against hunger, not only in the state but also in the entire Northeast where insurgency forced many people to flee their homes.

    “We are the implementer with WFP in Yobe and government representative coordinating with the food sector working group in the state. We share ideas that help support WFP intervention against hunger in the Northeast Nigeria,” said Goggobe.

    “We acknowledge WFP’s role in fighting hunger in Yobe through food distribution and cash transfers to internally displaced people. We have been partnering with WFP for long together with FAO especially on seed distribution and protection. WFP is a strong ally and partnership is one of the best ways to ensure food security in the state,” he said.

    “In fact, we are making a lot of impact because of partnership with WFP. Partnership is good in this kind of work on food security. The last time FAO was distributing seed at Yusufari Local Government while WFP was distributing food. We like this kind of partnership. It is a success story to see WFP in Yobe,” he said.

    Responding, Chimuka said: “For us the emergency assistance and saving lives is important. Through the support of authorities, we have been able to impact lives. We thank the government of Nigeria. Also, through the support of Yobe State government and its agency ADP; and other state authorities we are continually feeding people in dire need of food assistance in the Northeast Nigeria.”

  • Adulterated fertiliser, input threaten food security

    Farmers are reporting damage caused by the use of adulterated and  fake fertiliser distributed by some dealers  during the  season’s planting exercise, it was learnt yesterday.

    This is coming on the heels of Federal Government’s inability to force down the prices of fertiliser since January which it pegged at N5, 500 per bag. The government slashed the price of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) fertiliser to N5,000 per bag to encourage farmers to boost agricultural production in the country. Despite this, a 50kg bag of NPK fertiliser is currently being sold at N9,500 in the open market, while Urea is sold at N8,000. NPK fertiliser reached an all-time high of between N9, 000 to N10, 000 last year.

    Reports from Cross River, Kaduna and Anambra states say farmers have recorded failed crops attributed to adulterated fertiliser. The farmers expressed fears that the country may face fertiliser crisis which will directly affect the farming community and indirectly hit the masses. Speaking in Lagos, the Director-General, Feed Nigeria Summit Secretariat, Mr Richard Mark Mbaram expressed concern over the proliferation of adulterated fertilizers and pesticides, saying that the government should immediately investigate the illegal practice in the industry.

    He said that such practices in the fertilizer and pesticide industry puts in peril the government’s food self-sufficiency targets. According to him, because the fertiliser and pesticides that farmers are using are adulterated, the government may not achieve the desired [self-sufficiency] target, not only in corn, but across all agricultural commodities that depend on these products.

    For corn sector alone, he   said that production may drop, while unregulated components mixed with the fertilizers can cause long-term effects to the quality of soil.According to him, fertilizer is vitamins for soil and consists of three main types, nitrogen, potash and phosphate. He urged the government to revive the  Growth Enhancement  Support(GES) to cushion losses caused by use of sub-standard fertiliser. Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria(AFAN),Otunba Femi Oke  called on the government to monitor the industry and ensure that measures are taken  against unscrupulous traders.

    According to him, it was the government‘s mandate, working with  manufacturers   to assure adequate supplies of fertilizer and pesticide at reasonable costs, as well as rationalize fertilizer manufacturing and marketing, and protect consumers from the risks inherent in pesticide use. Recently in Anambra State, the    Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Export  had  raised alarm over the circulation of uncertified agricultural inputs, mostly fertilisers, allegedly brought into the state by unscrupulous individuals. It listed the fake agricultural inputs to include substandard fertilizers, rice seedlings and insecticides. A statement from the ministry warned farmers, registered cooperative societies and others associated with the agricultural value chain against the purchase and usage of such fake inputs.

     

  • Horrors of food wastage

    Horrors of food wastage

    Food and fruit wastage not only hurts growers and the economy, it especially harms children’s health, reports AMOS ABAH from Makurdi

    Ene Ayuba was worried she would lose her five-year-old son Kato to illness. His frequent bouts with diarrhoea in one week made him weak and frail. His jaw and eye sockets were the only prominent features on his face; he was a far cry from his usual animated and lively self. Ene sensed her son was at the brink of death after he failed to respond to the medications procured from a patent medicine seller in their neighbourhood.

    “After buying drugs from the chemist shop to stop the diarrhoea, his condition got worse. My son was unable to sit or stand which made me distressed,” said the 26-year-old petty trader.

    According to her, she heeded advice from a friend and rushed her son to Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) where he was admitted for treatment. At the hospital, she was subjected to a 30-minute procedural questioning by the doctor concerning Kato’s diet. However, the doctor’s inquisition hit a brick wall when Ene lied about Kato’s nutritional history. On closer examination, Kato was placed on drugs and food supplements to boost his immune system but his condition still worsened.

    “Initially I lied to the doctor about what I was feeding Kato with to save myself from being a charity case until I had no choice but to speak the truth to save my son,” she confessed to the reporter.

    Ene had tinkered with Kato’s nutritional profile before he had diarrhoea attacks. Kato’s diet two months earlier usually contained a daily staple called garri, granules produced from cassava considered the most affordable meal in Nigeria.

    Blaming the economic downturn in the country as the reason for the change in her son’s diet, which has led to a decline in the nutrients needed for his all-round growth and development, she bemoaned the fact that her son has been susceptible to bouts of infection as a result of his tinkered diet.

    Thankfully, Kato started responding to treatment at the paediatrics centre of BSUTH) after his meals were changed to a cereal based combination of soy and maize flour.

    Dr. Rose Abah, a consultant pediatrician and lecturer at BSUTH, Makurdi, asserts that a greater percentage of people suffering from severe under-nutrition cases in the state usually fall within the low-income and impoverished economic divide.

    “Most of the cases of severe under-nutrition I have dealt with at the paediatric unit concerns persons with low earnings. This puts many under-two children at risk of their immune system being compromised, making them preys to infections,” she posited.

    Research findings carried out by O. Akinyemi and A.G Ibraheem in 2009 at Queens College, Lagos which was published in the Pakistan Journal of Science in 2009, reveals that the nutritional status of students within the ages of 10-19 years is at a low, as their diet lacks the appropriate energy and nutrients intake. The study further shows that in Nigeria, most secondary school students are under-fed or starved due to the socio-economic conditions of their parents or guardians. This development, affects their concentration and academic achievements in school.

    Nigeria’s growing agricultural business was dealt a serious blow in 2015 when the European Union (EU) put a ban on beans imports due to an increased amount of pesticides. The EU also extended the ban for three years for failure by the Nigeria government to set up systems in place that would prevent such problems from reoccurring.

    With the abundance of fruits in the state, Benue still ranks lowest amongst the producers of fruit juices in the country. The processing plants managed by government has been neglected and abandoned, leaving rural farmers to their own devices.

    A stroll through an orange orchard in Mbawuar, a farming community in Benue State, reveals why the timeworn epithet, the food basket of the nation was conferred on the state. However, nestled among patchworks of fallow farmlands and swaths of land being prepared for the planting season, the 20 acre orange orchard which is home to different varieties of oranges, mirrors the plight of food security in the state. In a chat, Mr John Biem, manager of the orchard, shares his travails with the reporter.

    He said, “Although I make profits during the harvest period, I usually encounter severe losses as my oranges get spoilt in the event of waiting for buyers to purchase them. We don’t have an accessible market where big-time buyers can buy from us directly; we depend on the middlemen to reach us before we can make reasonable sales since they have a ready market. Orange wastage can be reduced if we can get access to fruit juice companies that would buy from us (orange farmers) directly,” Biem submitted.

    Records obtained from the Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER), a World Bank funded research centre in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, pegged the post-harvest losses of fruits at 51 percent for 2016 in Benue State. In a country where majority of under-five children are stunted, the statistics validates a grim reality of how fruit wastes affect the growth of children.

    In a global effort to scale down food losses and reduce farm and retail waste, the United Nations projects a sustainable goal geared towards ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns that would halve per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains including post-harvest losses by 2030.

    Will this be able to restore Nigeria’s nascent growth struggling to emerge from the throes of poverty and conflict? A nutritionist and lecturer at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Mr Benbella Iorliam replies in the affirmative.

    “Government will have to play a major role by increasing its efforts in improving agricultural support to rural farmers by providing soft-loans to help them obtain processing equipment to process their farm produce. This action will enable small cottage industries thrive. Most rural farmers can preserve their fruits as dried concentrates at the level of processing, but at the level of consumption, without electricity they (fruits juice) cannot be preserved for a longer period when processed.

    “Without good roads there would be no access to a market where this processed products will be sold. When these infrastructural challenges are fixed, then food loss can be reduced at production level and goal 12 of the SDGs can be realized bit by bit,” he concluded.

    Speaking to Mr Hafiz Oladimeji; the General Supervisor of the Nigerian Fruit Agro Processing Limited, a fruits juice factory based in Gboko, Benue State. He decried the lack of interest by investors to support small cottage industries to curb food waste.

    “Operations in the plant have been on hold due to operational costs making the management to consider the production of table water in order to keep afloat,” he said.

    “Farmers usually bring oranges to sell to us but since we’ve not started concentrate and juice production, we are forced to turn down their offer which they sell at giveaway prices.  Our juice production capacity is about 1 metric tonne of concentrate juice per day which with investors support we will produce a shared prosperity for the farmers and the investors,” he said with conviction.

    Okey Ezekiel, the project manager at the centre for food technology and research (CEFTER) hedged his bet on appropriate application of technology to cushion the implications of eating poisonous food products which could arise from excess amounts of preservatives.

    “The transfer of technology from the various research institutes and universities should be effected into the market to ensure our foods are safe and processed meeting international accepted standards,” he said.

    The United Nations estimates that 20 million people are being underfed or starved including 1.4 million children on the brink of imminent death. According to a recent report, it is hoped that the Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 12 would seek to improve nutrition, end food waste and promote sustainable agriculture that ensure healthy living for all.

    • Abah is a contributor to our Campus Life