The rising global population has seen an attendant increase in the demand for food, which is a basic necessity of humanity. The recent increase in world hunger figures, after a period of decline, as observed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, further paints a gloomy picture of the situation.
The FAO’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report estimates that 821 million people, about 1 in 9 persons in the world, are undernourished. It notes that “conflict, extreme weather events linked to climate change, economic slowdown, among other known factors, are reversing progress made in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.”
These concerns reverberated during the recent World Food Day celebration on October 16, 2018, prompting the global agency to raise an alarm and enjoin all players in the agricultural sector, including the government, farmers, agricultural associations, the private sector, and others, to unite and strengthen their efforts in uprooting hunger and malnutrition.
The theme of this year’s World Food Day – “Our actions, are our future. A zero hunger world by 2030 is possible, – clearly expresses the FAO’s belief and determination to bring this adversity to an end in the nearest future.
In its charge to its global partners, the FAO said, the “World Food Day will be an opportunity for zero-hunger leaders and key global players to remind the world that zero hunger is still possible if we can come together and take account of lessons learned, best practices and all evidence available.”
Notably, the occasion was marked all over the world, with local, national and global anti-hunger groups holding ceremonies and events to commemorate it. Nigeria was not left out as it joined the global community in taking action against hunger and reiterating its commitment towards the cause.
The Lagos State Government, for example, in collaboration with the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation and Stanbic IBTC Bank organised the World Food Day Lagos Farm Fair. The event had in attendance various stakeholders but most importantly, smallholder farmers and actors along the agricultural value chain. The event helped create a business platform for farmers to sell their goods and encourage them to increase their income by moving from subsistence to commercial agriculture.
The role of smallholder farmers in poverty eradication and achieving zero hunger and food security came into focus at the occasion.
Experts are of the opinion that to boost productivity in the agricultural sector and root out hunger, special focus must be placed on rural smallholder farmers. This is particularly the case for developing countries where agriculture is still, by a large extent, a subsistence enterprise that sustains the rural economy. Subsistence agriculture has been identified as one of the contributory factors to poverty especially in the rural areas; the reason being that a smallholder farmer does not often see agriculture as an enterprise but is only contented with an output that is enough for his family and other dependants. Therefore, agricultural enhancement can bring about a substantial decrease in hunger and poverty.
Conscious of this, the FAO in its charge to stakeholders in the fight against hunger, noted that: “Smallholder farmers need to adopt new, sustainable agricultural methods to increase productivity and income. Ensuring the resilience of rural communities requires an approach that is mindful of the environment that leverages the power of technological innovation and creates stable and rewarding employment opportunities.”
Buttressing this fact, in an opening address at the World Food Day Lagos Farm Fair, the Executive Director, BAT Nigeria Foundation, Abimbola Okoya, emphasised the role of smallholder farmers in food security and economic development and the huge challenges they are confronted with in realising these objectives. She noted that “Seventy per cent of the nation’s farm produce are cultivated by smallholder farmers who grow subsistence or cash crops and rely almost exclusively on family labour,” adding that “The scale and rudimentary method of farming makes it difficult for these farmers to access credit facilities to upscale their production or compete in the modern food value chain.”
Moreover, an important point worthy of note is that the cause of hunger is not necessarily the scarcity of food but poor access to food. Nigeria produces more than enough food to feed its citizens, unfortunately, not all the food that we produce reaches our table. Insufficient storage facilities, such as warehouses, cold storage silos and dearth of infrastructure such as paved roads and reliable energy, also contribute to post-harvest losses, especially among smallholder farmers. Thus, curbing post-harvest losses is another critical factor for achieving food security. The challenge is that rural smallholder farmers who produce a great percentage of the food Nigerians consume do not have the capacity to acquire or access storage facilities to store their harvest. Government must, therefore, provide interventions to reduce such wastage, and drive policies to increase the rate of growth in the agriculture sector and ultimately put the economy back on the path of sustainable growth.
It is expected that the private partnership engagement would create market linkages for smallholder farmers and provide the needed boost for the agricultural industry to thrive.
Hakeem Ogunniyi is an agriculture expert based in Lagos
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