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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
Oxfam has called on governments in Nigeria to establish a food system that works for everybody in the country. Saying that there is a need for a food system that can stand against shocks such as the climate crisis and rapid food inflation on international food markets.
According to a statement that was issued by Oxfam’s communication officer, Rita Abiodun, the Country Director of the organization in Nigeria, Dr Vincent Ahonsi, the food system should be a system that does not contribute to environmental destruction in the country.
He said, “In the long-term, governments must support the development of sustainable, resilient and local food systems, based on small-scale production and family farming that would form the very foundation of people’s food security. The current crisis underscores the urgency and importance of this.
The country director explained that prior to the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the United Nations (UN) had estimated that food prices in Sub-Saharan Africa were 30 to 40% higher than the rest of the world and that one in every five people were under-nourished.
“93 million in 36 African countries were suffering extreme levels of hunger (women and children being hardest hit). In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in three children under five is stunted by chronic undernutrition; and two out of five women of childbearing age are anaemic because of poor diets,” Dr Ahonsi stated.
He added that the crisis in Ukraine has caused food prices to skyrocket globally in the last few weeks with some forecasts estimating up to a 20 per cent increase. “This is adding pressure to the already devastating hunger crises across the world and causing fears of food shortages”.
However, the Oxfam International Country Director expressed that the most notable problem is affordable access to food, “not its availability. Many people in low-income countries (including Nigeria) cannot afford the prices of goods like bread which, in many countries, is made from imported wheat.
According to him, this was because the major supply chain has been disrupted by the crisis and climate-driven disasters, like drought, coupled with conflict.
“Ukraine and Russia are important players in the global food export market. Russia is the top wheat exporter with a share of almost 16 per cent of the global market, while Ukraine is the third-largest exporter of wheat at almost 10 per cent of the global market,” Dr Ahonsi explained while calling on the Nigerian government to provide the public funding necessary to create fair, gender-just, and sustainable food systems.
“Particularly focusing on agroecological production which is inherently less dependent on imports of feed and agricultural inputs, and more resilient to climate change impacts,” he added.
