Acute Food Scarcity Hits 31.8m Nigerians -FG

Do you know that the number of Nigerians suffering from acute food scarcity has reached over 31.8m?

You had better believe it because the figure is coming from authenticated sources, and referenced by the federal government itself.

The Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, said statistics provided by 2024 Cadre Harmonise report, showed that Nigerians were suffering from acute food insecurity compounded with malnutrition among women and children.

A total of 24 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) attended the review meeting, and concluded that the surge in food commodity prices was as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy in addition to security challenges, and that this has placed millions of Nigerians in a precarious situation.

The report accessed on the ministry’s website by The Eagle Correspondent, credited a number of development partners as the startling consensus on acute food scarcity at a Joint review meeting on implementation of the Food systems in Nigeria, held from the 26th -27th August, 2024.

The development partners included the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), GAIN, GIZ and Agsys, which also advocated for a multi -sectoral approach of collaboration in tackling food security.

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The development partners also say any plan intending to tackle this food insecurity challenge must accommodate Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the private sector operators.

The National Convenor of Food Systems in Nigeria and Director of Social Development, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Sanjo Faniran, had earlier set the mood of the meeting by saying it was to identify gaps, successes and challenges, and offer recommendations.

He equally thanked stakeholders for ensuring sustainability of the food sector in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Emeka Vitalis Obi who declared the meeting open, stated the objectives.

He said it was to discuss the status of the implementation and for MDAs to provide updates on the activities implemented for the food transformation scheme in the country.

The Eagle reports that another international organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), had last year, given hint of scary acute food scarcity situation in the country.

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This was at the launch of CropWatch in Abuja, where the Resident Humanitarian Coordinator of the FAO,  represented by a United Nations (UN) official, Taofiq Braimoh, has said that approximately 22 million Nigerians would face food insecurity in 2023, and around 80-82 million would be at risk of acute food scarcity by 2030.