THE RE-OCCURING FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGES AS NIGERIA MARKS THE WORLD FOOD DAY - The National Association of Nigerian Traders NANTS

World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), to mark the date of the founding of FAO in 1945. The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that “food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity” (resolution 35/70 of 5 December 1980). This year would therefore be the 31st World Food Day and 66th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

2. The World Food Day (WFD) celebration is a worldwide event observed by all FAO member nations on the 16th of October every year, to create awareness and understanding on the nature and dimension of the World Food problem and develop the sense of national struggle as well as a year-around action against hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty.

3. The theme for this year‟s celebration is “FOOD PRICES – FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY”, to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable. The price of food has been on an upward trajectory for some time now, posing a major threat to food security in developing countries. The poor and the farmers, who incidentally produce this food, are the hardest hit. According to the World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty.

4. In Nigeria, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) and other groups and allies in the Voices for Food Security (VFS) Campaign would be part of the WFD celebration, with their Small Scale Farmers exhibiting various agricultural produce and bountiful harvest even amidst strong challenges militating against their production environment. NANTS and the VFS allies shall be part of the WFD events which will take place from 10^th to 16^th October 2011, with series of activities ranging from a sensitization walk, to a Photo and Book Exhibition at the National Food Reserves Agency, to a quiz competition, to a symposium and to cap it all, an Agricultural show and Exhibition at National Agricultural show ground, Abuja-Keffi Road, Nasarawa State. Furthermore, NANTS and the VFS would also be using the WFD to showcase activities around their global “Grow Campaign” which is a comprehensive project around food security, food price crises, and the land grab phenomenon.

5. While we celebrate this year‟s World Food Day, NANTS and the VFS are using this opportunity to call on the politicians to respect their commitments made to farmers during the pre-election campaigns. It would be recalled that during the election campaigns, NANTS, VFS and the Association of Small Scale Agricultural Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) developed a “Farmers Manifesto” and hosted politicians to buy-in to the commitments of investing more in Agriculture and assisting the poor Small Scale Farmers as a pre-requisite for being voted into power. Having been voted in, NANTS, the VFS and ASSAPIN are reminding and calling on the politicians to fulfil their own end of the promise.

6. More so, specifically, it is important to note that while celebrating the WFD, Nigeria must address certain pertinent issues which contribute one way or the other to food insecurity. These issues include, but are not limited to:

1. The problem of Desertification in Northern Nigeria, which costs Nigeria about 350,000 hectares of arable land per year must be frontally addressed. It is important to note that in the 10 northern states of the country, each year, the desert advances another 600 metres further south, forcing tens of thousands of farmers and their families to move off land that has become barren. Deforestation on the other side has also cost the country over 60% of its original forest cover, with the 60% of the remaining forest cover, domiciled in Cross River State at risk.

1. Land Degradation is a daily occurrence in the Niger Delta, as a result of oil spillage. And as if that is not enough, the remaining arable land in Ogoniland, Rivers State, is at risk of being „grabbed‟ by the government under the guise of foreign investment, without consideration of the effects on the livelihood of members of the communities in question.

• Flooding, in Lagos, Ibadan and other south-west states, which has succeeded in killing hundreds of people, destroying properties worth billions, rendering thousands homeless and destroying crops and farmlands.

1. Land grabbing and related practices, which is fast becoming a menace, and if left unchecked, will pose serious environmental and food security problems in Nigeria.

To curb these problems touching on the lives and livelihoods of millions of Nigerians, NANTS recommends that:

1. Tree Planting Exercise and Forest Protection, to curb the encroachment of the desert on arable lands, leading to displacement of rural dwellers and farmers.

1. The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and other relevant agencies, should work towards ensuring that oil spills are promptly cleaned up, so as to mitigate the destruction of farms and water resources in the Niger Delta.

• Access to Land: Land being the primary resource in Agriculture, it is expedient that the government takes another look at the extant Land Use Act, in order to bring about equity on access to land by the poor and vulnerable farmers.

1. Land Grabbing: Flowing from the foregoing, government should look into the menace of the new land grabbing trend in Nigeria, where state governments practically hand over community lands to foreigners, thereby jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands of Nigerians, and contributing immensely to poverty and unemployment.

Other recommendations include:

1. Credit and Farm Inputs: NANTS appeals to the designated authority to please ensure that farmers, especially small scale farmers, receive credit, at affordable interest rates, as well as farm inputs.

1. Portfolio Farmers: These “farmers” without farmlands have sabotaged the country‟s agric schemes for too long. WE therefore call on the government to carry out careful investigations on the beneficiaries of its micro-credit schemes, so as to ensure that the real farmers are empowered.

• Provision of farm infrastructure and simple mechanised farm equipments, these would go a long way in increasing the efficiency and productivity of Nigerian farmers.

1. Promotion of Organic Farming: As much as recent government plans for better access to fertilizer is laudable, NANTS proposes that more attention be focused on organic farming, which is eco-friendly and will not contribute to climate change.

1. A Gender Approach to Policy Design and Decision Making Process: Agric policies should take the huge number of women, who bear the brunt of poverty and who are involved in Agriculture, as well as the youths, into consideration, in order to come up with projects that would attend the specific needs of these groups.

1. Proper Coordination of Agric Related Funding: Government should look at harmonising already existing agric programmes in Nigeria, so as learn from the failures of already existing initiatives, and to prevent multiplication of duties.

Finally, as we celebrate this 31^st World Food Day, let it not be business as usual, but decisive actions and programmes should be put in place, to stabilize the turbulent agriculture sector.

For: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN TRADERS (NANTS)

Azubike NWOKOYE (Mr)

Programme Officer, Agric & Livelihoods (NANTS Agric Team Leader)