Food security: Roundtable Discussants proffer solutions to Agric sector to mitigate hunger

A roundtable discussion in Lagos recently themed, ‘Food Security in Nigeria: Challenges and Remedies’, was organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the United Action for Change.

 

In his opening speech, a former Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), Convener of the event, made it abundantly clear that almost all the people who honoured the invitation occasion were aware of the challenges confronting the country vis a vis Food Scarcity, saying, the discussants were to go straight to the remedies without further delay.

Setting the ball of discussion, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Ruth Abisola Olusanya, called on the three tiers of government (Federal, state and local governments) in the country to change their strategies to agriculture sector, with a view to making it attractive to the teeming youth of Nigeria.

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She maintained that if the sector is made attractive to them, they will naturally develop interest in it and such interest would enhance food security and banish hunger from the country and life would be in abundance for all and sundry.

 

She further lamented what she described as discouraging the perception around agriculture and food production in the country as if the sector is meant for the backward people, saying that the sector had been relegated to the background blaming the notion on the negative reason many people were not attracted to it.

 

Challenging Nigerians, the honourable commissioner posited that it would be easy to improve the sector unless Nigerians deliberately change their mind-set about it, regretting the absence of notable role models and mentors that would attract people into the sector.

 

Her words: “There is the need for mind-set changing, people are not attracted to agriculture, no role model that is in the Agricultural sector that will attract people into the sector. Our leaders should know that it is a sector that cannot be relegated, it is not less important than other sectors,” she said.

 

While speaking further, the Commissioner cited the example of Ghana where she said food production was on the increase, disclosing that farmers in Ghana are well celebrated there, even as she urged the need for Nigeria to institute a day to celebrate farmers in the country and make role models among them.

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Hon Olusanya, however, has declared that the Lagos State government was aware of most of the challenges confronting the Agricultural sector, assuring that that steps are being taken to address them.

 

Dropping a joyous hint, the commissioner disclosed that the state government is stepping forward towards turning one of the Agricultural Institutes in the state to a research institute for Agriculture, envisaging its conversion to materialize latest in 2027.

 

 

Olusanya, who further disclosed the commitment on the part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to change the narrative in the Agricultural sector to a better one, being outcome of the meeting of Agriculture commissioners with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, added that Lagos State government was aggressively pursuing a programme that would encourage the youths to embrace agriculture.

 

She disclosed that, part of the state government’s plan was to encourage those studying Agricultural Science to embrace working in their area of their study as the government is ready to absorb them when they are ready..

 

Another discussant and an agriculturist, Dr. Olajide Bashorun, described the challenges facing farmers as enormous in Nigeria, saying that such was drawing them backward and affecting them not to give their optimum best.

 

According to him, the challenges also have to do with security issues which prevent them from accessing their farms as at when due, lack of access road to transport their farm produce to the market, no access to loan facilities, among others.

 

His words; “Something should be done by government to mitigate the problems facing farmers in Nigeria; there is the need for climate smart agriculture. Sourcing of credit finance for farmers is very important. There is the need to package agriculture finance to farmers,” he said.

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Joining the discursion through viral participation, Professor Gbolagade Ayoola attributed failure to implement government policy as reason Agricultural sector was not advancing in the country all this while. Against that background, the don therefore advocated for a legislation that would criminalize failure to implement government policy, adding, there is the need to sensitize backbone legislation against policy implementation.

 

“There is the need for composite solution that will address policy failure. Why policy failure is persistence is because there is no consequence,” the don declared.

 

Also speaking, Mrs Felicia Okotie, from FADAMA equally called for a change in the mind-set on the part of the citizenry about agriculture, saying that people needed to stop to see engaging in the sector as punishment or as the portion of not well to do in the society.

 

“Interaction is needed to change the mind-set of people about agriculture, which many people see as punishment,” she submitted.

 

Before the end of the programme, challenges of land acquisition and problems of land speculators were discussed with the assurance that the government would be forwarded so everybody would be on the same page uphold agriculture as solution to threatening hunger.

At the well-attended roundtable were participants from all the walks of life like the People Living Disability, academia, professionals as well as members of Other NGOs and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).