Experts connect to brainstorm over food security and malnutrition 

Experts across the West African States and Sahel region are currently in Abuja for a two-day meeting to brainstorm on how to prevent food crises and manage malnutrition. The Head, Information and Relationship Department, Agricultural and Hydro Metrology, Regional Centre, Dr. Abdou Ali, made this known on Thursday.

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He explained that the meeting is crucial to the region, adding that it will avail participants the opportunity to brainstorm on responses to food and nutrition situation in West Africa and Sahel region.

Dr. Ali said the meeting would also enable them to forecast the situation of food and analyse the situation of the food market to avert negative impact, as well as to work on big initiatives on how to have abundant food in the region.

He said: “This period of the rainy season plays a very important role in the food and nutrition situation in our region, coming down to what we met here in Nigeria, we need to analyse the situation of the market, the global impact on our vision and focus. The perspective of the prospect on how it will be for the initiation for the upcoming months, it is very important because you know if the rainy season is going to be very dry or bad, this will have a huge impact on food security. If we are going to have more rainfall, the situation will be very good for food provision and this will also have a very good impact on the food situation. So the fact that we are here is to analyse that information on the region and make the conclusion on how leadership will support food security in the region. From the observation of the forecast that was done in May, there is an overall expectation of having an average rainfall situation in the region with a little effect on food production,” he said.

Dr. Ali added that from the information available, the region is a little bit confident that it will not face a general drought situation and this will have a good impact on the region.

Also, Mr. Kouacou Koffy, Regional Emergency and Resilience Team Leader for West Africa and Sahel, Food and Agricultural Organisation, attributed some of the conflict in the region and the Russian/Ukraine war to the shortage of food in West Africa and Sahel.

He listed other factors working against large production of food to include climate change, deficit of fertiliser, and increase in the price of cereal, among others.

According to him, the organisation is putting effort together to know the root causes of some of the crises, adding that it would support governments of all countries in the region to boost food production. Koffy said that FAO would continue to do its best to boost the production of food and encourage all the partners to join hands together to allow the food population to grow.

Similarly, the Chief Regional Coordinator, Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in Sahel Dr. Issofou Baoua, called on stakeholders to look for ways to fight against food insecurity and malnutrition. The meeting, he said, would discuss challenges and proffer lasting solutions to food insecurity in the region.

On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Earnest Afolabi, who was represented by the Director of Special Duties in the ministry, Mrs. Fausat Lawal, said the ministry had responded to some of the challenges militating against high food production in Nigeria.

He said the ministry had supported National Programme for Food Security in the implementation of food security and livelihood support programmes.

Dr. Afolabi explained that several interventions and supports in the form of farm inputs and equipment were made available to vulnerable farmers in areas identified as having high food and nutrition insecurity, particularly to the identified food victims. The intervention, he said, covered 4,896 farmers in 12 states of the federation.

He disclosed that in 2022; a total of 12,397 selected vulnerable farmers from the result of the CH-Analysis benefited from the intervention supported by the Africa Union Commission and the ministry.

Afolabi however said that several other interventions to improve the food security situation across the country are being implemented by the department and the donor-funded projects under the supervision of the ministry.

Wumi/punch