From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Participants from 17 southern states, on Thursday, gathered in Anambra State to brainstorm on the implementation strategy of the food systems transformation pathways in Nigeria.
The event, held at Hilton Leisure Resort and Hotels, Awka, the state capital, was attended by Governor Chukwuma Soludo, top state and Federal Government officials including commissioners and Permanent Secretaries.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning in Anambra, Chiamaka Nnake, in her welcome address, said that the main objective of the workshop was to define and present the key pathways for the transformation of the country’s current food systems, taking into consideration the end-to-end food production value chain which is from production to final consumption.
“We are driving this transformation exercise to create healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems that will ensure food security and optimal nutrition for all citizens”, Nnake said.
The commissioner said that the government was already taking steps to ensure food security in the state by exploring the strengths and opportunities that exist within its agriculture and agro-processing sectors.
“We understand the critical role that food systems can play in supporting the growth of our economy and the livelihood of Ndi Anambra.
“We have implemented a few food systems-related initiatives such as the regenerative agricultural policy, distribution of coconut and oil palm seedlings, distribution of farm inputs, amongst others.
“We implemented these initiatives to ensure that our food production activities have very limited impact on our natural environment, the health of Ndi Anambra and even the general populace.
“We also want to provide individuals and businesses across various aspects of the food production value chain, with access to improved and safer farm inputs to be used for food production.
“We expect that these initiatives will cause a significant reduction in the number of people without access to food, decline in food-related diseases, and improve the livelihoods of the people.
“Therefore, the need for a workshop of this nature cannot be over emphasized considering its impact on the economy and ability to solve social deprivation issues such as hunger, malnutrition, diseases etc.
“We believe that if we can foster collaboration efforts between states, we can build the necessary partnerships required to strengthen food systems in Nigeria”, Nnake said.
She commended the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning for the proactive approach to the 78 priority actions presented by President Muhammed Buhari at the UN Food Systems Summit in New York in September 2021 by ensuring that the task team comprising of donors/development partners, private sector and other relevant stakeholders work tirelessly to produce a robust implementation strategy.
National Convenor, UN Food System, Dr Sanjo Faniran, said that the essence of the consultation was to assess the input of the three zones in the southern part of the country – the South East, South-South and South West.
“And the essence is for us to harvest input into the development of the implementation plan for the 78 recommendations that was presented by President Buhari to the UN Food System Summit.
“The outcome of this workshop here will be that we will have harvested input into these implementation strategies we are developing so that it will now become a national document rather than being a federal document when all states are involved. We did that of the northern zone on Monday in Kano”, he said.
In his welcome address, Soludo, represented by his Chief of Staff, Ernest Ezeajughi, said that his administration was working very hard to ensure food security in the state.