Why Nigeria is faced with food security, malnutrition challenge – GAIN

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The Country Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Dr Michael Ojo, has given insight into why Nigeria is faced with food security and malnutrition challenge.

Ojo stated this in Abuja during a press briefing to commemorate the World Food Day, with a focus on water.

Ojo said Nigeria faces a significant food security and malnutrition challenge, adding that the challenge was in part because Nigeria does not produce enough food and enough nutritious food.

Ojo further said a lot of the food Nigeria produced were either lost or wasted between the farm and the table.

He stated that the challenge being faced in the country in terms of the ability to produce the right food or sufficient food or the challenge of getting food from farm to folk was driven by the negative impact of COVID-19, which led to the disruption of supply chain; significant impact of conflict within and outside the country, including climate change.

“So, what we see is that of all of these deficiencies are impacting on diet – what people are actually able to consume, what is available to them to eat because they can’t access the right kind of diet or because they can’t afford these foods, especially most vulnerable,” Ojo said.

Speaking on the theme for the 2023 World Food Day, Ojo said water is very critical to human existence.

Ojo added that water is not infinite and unlimited, saying that as the population increases, the pressure on water increases.

He also said the role of water was for life and livelihoods, even as he said there was the need to ensure that everyone had access to water.

Ojo however called for a stronger coordination and synergy between water systems, food systems and climate systems so that the nation can end up with robust strategies so that the strategies can intentionally address the challenge faced by the vulnerable population in the society.