The Cadre Hamonise (CH) report on food security and nutrition analysis released on November 5, 2020, for 16 states across the country including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which shows that more Nigerians in northern states are pushed to acute food shortage crisis mainly due to floods, climate change effects and the ongoing decade-long armed insurgency is worrisome.
The report presented in Abuja by stakeholders recommends that the government needs to sustain the implementation of relief measures to the populace.
It also recommends the need to sustain the current intensive public enlightenment and enforcement of the standard preventive and management measure and protocols set by the National Centre for Disease control (NCDC) to mitigate further the active Covid-19 spread.
The report made available penultimate Saturday by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) National Communication Specialist, Mr David Tsokar, reveals that about 9.8 million people in Nigeria are expected to be in a hunger crisis or worse between October and December 2020; and if immediate measures are not taken to mitigate the situation, about 13. 8 million people will be facing acute food shortage crisis between June and August 2021.
The report also shows that the most affected part of the country is the North-east region covering Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states that are affected by the decade-long armed insurgency, leaving millions of people without food and other livelihood means.
The three states are classified to be in crisis and emergency phases of acute food and nutrition analysis.
For the October – December 2020 period, it is only Adamawa state, which has completely scored better results of being under pressure but without renewed concerted efforts, much of it will slide into food security crisis.
Speaking during the report presentation, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mua’zu Abdulkadir, said that the analysis is not just an early warning alert but an inevitable decision making tool to guide points of action for ensuring food security and nutrition situation across all the states involved.
He said that the October 2020 CH analysis came at a time when households in the country were faced with economic stress due to lockdown and restrictive measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria.
“The results, therefore, are expected to reveal the number of those affected by the food and nutrition challenges for the period covered that is October to December 2020 and the projected June to August 2021.
Consequently, as a food security and nutrition early warning alert presented to the government and all the key stakeholders, the report lays a foundation for planning effective interventions to prevent further deterioration of the food and nutrition situation in those vulnerable areas.”
Opening the World Food Day celebration week recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono, said that despite some positive indicators in terms of food production in the country, effects of Covid-19, climate change coupled with the recent floods in some states contributed to low productivity in the agriculture sector.
To mitigate the effects, Nanono said the federal government has taken several measures including the formation of a task and joint technical forces to ensure the impact of this pandemic on our 2020 farming season is minimised.
Nanono said that the CH results and recommendations were going to add into the already ongoing efforts by the Government for coming up with a comprehensive mitigation and resilience plan for the affected farming communities nationwide in order to protect agricultural production and ensure sustainable food security for the nation.
Earlier on, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Representative in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, Fred Kafeero, said this round of CH analysis was different, as the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown and other preventive restrictions led to low food production, access to markets as well as farm inputs for enhanced productivity.
“This is compounded by the insecurity in some parts of the country, crop pest and diseases infestation among others.
Several households are still currently experiencing difficulties in assessing their basic food and non–food needs due to disrupted livelihoods resulting in reduced household income sources.
It is good to see the government and other stakeholders are joining hands to take actions to mitigate these effects.”
The 16 states involved were Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe as well as the FCT.
These findings did not include those from Zamfara State because they were still being finalised.
We commend the Cadre Hamonise report on food security and nutrition analysis for 16 states including the FCT, especially its recommendations on the remedial measures that should be adopted by government to arrest the undesirable situation.
While it is true that the President Muhammadu Buhari government has done a lot to ensure food security in the country, the same cannot be said of most state governments.
The CH report is, therefore, a wake-up call on governments across all levels, particularly in the affected states, to intensify their efforts towards food security.
