THE GUARDIAN, Sunday, October 16, 2011
FIlIm Marlim ~ rNl\lja Buruu CHef)
-Imporlod NOElIr ($620lJ) Food In 2007-2010 • In 2010, Spent N632b On Wheat, N356b On Rice, N217b On Sugar, N97b On Fish pont About NllJiliion PCI' Dqy 011 Rice Alone • Produces 500,000 Tons Of Rice, Consumes 2.5mTons
<lre ind cations that the Jona than administration has much more to wony aoout than I h~ deadly 801co Haram ilmbush, remov;>l of contro\~1 petroleum sullsldy and f:dlllic Identity aisis simply classined as federa l ch.racterdiallenges in power ~haring that h.1V~ emerged as an albatross for the six-month-old admi nistration. Typical in the p!llity, political stories have always oorupiJ~l lo domlnat!' the from pages Mimlkoexposition: "the food insecurity and prime time Tlews, thus pushing to tfle background cr1tbi issues about \\ny the court- aspt'Ct" In fts prope:rcontext. Again, last Monday; October 10, 2011, Mam trv'sKOoomyis in mOl"l'danger than we think. Nigeria organised a Media Forum (Editors' And this is wha~ has happt'nrd to the story of Roundtabre) to mark Ulis year's world Food Njg~rla's unrqx'ned, but deadly food impon Dayal the Bolton White HOleiln Grki 2, SCilndal. although the government has had Abuja, The Issueor"tll~ role of the media In occ.ulons to draw alten£lon to tlle remarkable promoting food security In Nigerla w was the de\"elopmenl. highlight oftJle discusslon_ On September~',20u, when t~est:ablishme m Amemlxrof the National Assembly. Nkoyo l?egan iI series 01 public relallons blitz, th rough Toyo{Cross PJver}and an International directhe Instrumentality of the Ftderal fxe(utlve 10ro(Mam, was there and she ~ke extertCoundl mem l~"S' media briefing to mark the Jonatllan AdmlIJistralion 100 days in offic~, the s[\,t:ly on tile unreported issue of land grab In Nigeria witilin the comext offood security Minlsterof Agric ulture and Rural De\oelopment, D~_ Akinwunmi Adesina, look his il1lhecoumry, Toyo,a deveiopmentS«tor activist, was, tum. untn recen tly. Nlj!pia's r:nvoy to Ethiopia. The doctoral gr Iduate of Purdue Uruverslty Vet, the issue of Tood Insecurity and Sc.1nand fomler vice Dresklent (Policy & dalous food Impon data that d"omlnatrd disI'3rmership~ at 11111' A111:mce for Creen cussion at the fOru m wem Into obscurity, Re\'Olution InJ\fica (AGRA), told the media especially In tJle print medla_ tilat food Impor.s had ~n one of tile most Speclnc3.1ly, the follolVl ng Is the food import critical challUlg'5ln Nigeria. SGl.ndalous data tilat has reportedly added to But tJle repone~ who covered tJle briefing. the wonying listof rresidentJonathan, who's could not put th~ data quett{! by the fonn~r FAO chief fn goocl COnlexl, to mm meaning [0 smanlng from the fallout of government's resolve to remove fuel subsld"y In January next tJlepopul"ce.. ~a r. In Ihe 50.1111e Vl!in, on SeJ)temlxr n, 20U, wh~ n Mlrnlko h.:ld this tosayoll agr1ru1rureand TlJeSun(newsp.l~rs) publldy pll'sentrd Its deOnitely food security In Nigeria: book. N~ria's(:Olden nook, at the Var'Adua "From Independence In 1960, Nigeria is ytt Centre in Abuja.lhe govemorof OndoState_ DT. .to sumlOunt Ule challenge of good gO\"er· Olusegun Mlmil:o, wllo gave a keynot~ nalla. Nothing demonstriltes tliisdalm betaddress, quOU'd extensively (rom the data [ertJlan the gnm realities of ournational Ufe. rclused by the rtlnister. "Ours Isa nation sitting on abundant natural Mlmiko told th~ captive audience that he had resources wi th fertile land but completelr called the agrla.'lture mlnlsterthe previous unable 10 feed Its citizens.. The MIn15ler o day(Sep4.ember 26) 10conOrm the scandalous IIgriculture, Dr_Aki nwunml Adesina. recently facts alld ngure.:'! on Nigeria's food Impon pronoted that: file. "Nigeria Is now one of the IaJiest. food CuriousJ}\ tJle J:oUtical aspect of Mimlko's imponers In theworld.Accoming to him, the presentatlon, "..hlch harped on alleged mis· food impon bill ofNlgerta In 2007-2010 was management of federalfsm, domina ted the N98 trilnon orS628 billion. In 2010 alone, front pages and prime £lme on rndio and teleNigeria spent N6]2 billion on Imponallon of vision_ I wheat, N3S6 billion on importation of rice Even thechldl-oostorUleevenl, n,eSun,dld (that means we spent NI blllion perday on not report the wOSIslgnlfkant aspect ofth~
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• Youth unemployment Is embarrassing. • Smallholder Tarmers COl\5titut~ 801 of all farm holdings; their production ~'Stem Is Ineffidem; thell' Is regul.lf ~hortf;]n in national domeslic production_ - r-ood Impen is thus a common feature. Only_Hope< - I\griculture Is a kry sector tJlat can affect maJor1tyofNig~r1ans..
Food S«urity Situation Food Securily Status: • TItis Isa fundamental agr1C\Jl tural objective in Nigeria: rice aJont'~ N217 blllion on sugar Importation - Households should ltaYr: access to goocJ and and with all the marine resources, nvers, lakes nulIititJus food for healthy living. ilnd creeks weare blessed \..1th, Nigeria spent -Population should ~ ~a l tJlY tocreate NCJ7 billion Importing fish: national \Yr:ahh. 'he simple calculation from the above is that Nigeria spends on the aYr:rnge N24.5 oil- .... f'undamental Issues of Food Securtty: lion yearly, wlllclt Is aboutS1GO billioll. lllis • Is Food Avallable7 - Domestic food production Is on the revelaLion Iscenainly unwhoresorn ~ If one increase but not enough to lOeet national considers that Nigeria has over 74 mha of food demand arnb~ lands and yeta net imponerof food as • Is Supply orFood Stable7 o£toda)t - Post llarvt:St losses are 2Q.4~ beGluse har~Is Is a cle.udeparture £rom Ule reality of vestin~ processing/slorage tcchnlques are Nigeria in tile 1960s when agrlrultur~ provided tile main source of employment, income ineffioent;as a res ult, supply Is unstable. • Do pe.opl~ havt Act:r.ss to food7 and foreign exchange umlngs for Nigeria_lhe adYr:nt of commercial oil -Access toadequate;llld nutri tious food is limited by low Income/povcny. because nutriexploitation In the mid 197050 no doubt, hertious foods are sometimes ~nsi\"e_ alded an ern of decay for agricultural output In Nigeria. "WbatIsFood ~ 1!kr7 - Food iMake and nutritional well being of "It is Interesting to nOll' that as a nalion today, we produce 500,000 IOnnes of rice many households are of relatiVl!ly 10\'" quality. and are affected by their low economic status.. whereas we consume 2.5 million tonnes. - The vu ln erabl ~and food Insecure ioclude the poor, smallholder f;lnners, dlildren, prt:gCIMIlARlYat Ule saki Mam forum In Abuja ..Jtut Monday, the following facts on Nigeria's flam \vomen, lactating mothers and the elderfood securitystarus emerged from the main lbout60.81 Nigeriaru are malnourished. presentation by a senior journalist, whoquoted copiously rro m Food and AgrIcultul"l' • Frevalent Dtffdency Di!N!l'5: - Iro n defiCiency, which arr~ physical capacOrganization (FA03 faer sheet on Nigeria: Ity,and In sevel"l'cases lead to dea th and sus• NIgeria has a Ian area or 98.3 million Ita; 74 ct'ptibUityto Infections.. mUllan ha Is good for farnllng; bUI less than hams being explored. - Protein Energy Malnutrition (f'£M). whkh causesgrowth failure in chlklren, and wclght • The popurado n InvolYr:d in (anning is 6o. loss In adults; relations hip exIsU bel\\1!en PEM 70~ and inrectlons like measles, diarrhoea, • Agrtculrure's contribution toGOP isalso 41.5%. whooping cough, tuberculoslS,a nd malaria. -VitamlnA.de:fldency, whldl fights mist'• OutJlut of food per ca.plta Is among the least ance to infections.. In SSA(South Sahara Aliica). -Obesity, which is on the increase, affects • Crops, Uvestodcand fish ha\"e potrn£lals for providing food and nutrition. more of urban d\\"elJers; and results £rom Imbalanced nutrition. Hype n eruion. dialxtes Emftrglllg P9J11dOlC mellitus, and carulO\'ilscUlar diseases acoompanyil. • Vet, there is th~t or hunger and poverty; • Problem of the vulnerable and insccu70Xofthe population live on less than NIOO (S 0.7)pt'r da){ COtmtfUtD ON Po\GE 13 W
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