ABUJA – Senator Abubakar Kyari, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, expressed grave concern on Thursday about the threat presented by climate change affects on food production and food security as Nigerians struggle with food issues.
This was said by Kyari during a speech at the Sahel Food System Change Makers Conference in Abuja, which had as its theme “Rethinking Food and Nutrition Security in the Face of Climate Change: Scaling Innovation and Driving Urgent Public Private Partnership Actions.”
Sugra Mahmood, who was the Minister’s representative, urged participants in the public and private sectors to organize funding to combat climate change.
“We must coordinate our efforts, utilizing the power of the public and private sectors, as well as the unorganized sector, in order to mobilize the resources, know-how, and innovations required to confront climate change head-on. However, we must act quickly,” he said.
“Climate change is not waiting for us to catch up; the problems are urgent, the repercussions are dire, and no thought should be given to a solution.
“We must make investments in agriculture, environmentally friendly land management, and the creation of robust food networks.
“The President Tinubu-led administration pledges to take the lead on this trip. To establish a favorable atmosphere for innovations and investors, we shall put forth unremitting effort.
“We will fortify our institutions in order to assist PPPs that promote sustainable agriculture.
“We prioritize the health of our citizens and the resilience of our food systems.”
Atiku Bagudu, the minister of budget and economic planning, noted that food insecurity in Nigeria has been significantly exacerbated by climate change.
“Over the years, climate change has had a negative impact on the food system in addition to being the biggest single cause of agricultural insecurity.
“What is increasingly recognized as a Sahelian problem is mostly climate change,” said Bagudu. “Not only is the available land less and less capable of supporting agricultural practices in the way they are traditionally done, but the competition for resources by the composite tripod of the agricultural space is also insufficient.”
He also bemoaned the fact that “farmers no longer have access to enough land to cultivate in the manner they once did due to a variety of factors.”
The fishing villages were unable to locate enough freshwater bodies to continue fishing as they had in the past.
“The pastoralist communities that relocate frequently may no longer receive the same level of support. The urgency is highlighted by this.
The Minister added urged all relevant parties to work quickly to avert and salvage the situation in order to lessen the effects of climate change.
Climate change is real, and we don’t need to be reminded that if we don’t act, it will affect us, he continued. “The surprising conflicts that you are seen in other places, especially the northwest, where particularly the pasture realist community over the decades can no longer find avenues for their pasture and can no longer move around as they used to again has been a contributory factor to the conflict”, he said.
Temi Adegoroye, the managing partner of Sahel Consulting, has before stated, “We face alarming rates of food deficiencies in Nigeria.”
Adegoroye claims that as food inflation reaches 25% in Q3 2023, the majority of households in Nigeria spend 60% of their income on food.
“Climate change is no longer a hypothetical danger; it is a stark reality that has an impact on every aspect of our lives,” he declared. Our diets and food systems are the best examples of this.
“Despite having a rich culinary history, food insufficiencies are on the rise. Food prices are rising, reaching roughly 25% in Q3 2023, and many households spend close to 60% of their income on food.
The World Food Programme, WFP, estimates that in 2022, 34% of our population struggled to maintain a level of food consumption that was at least minimally appropriate.
This year, we want to intensify more ground-breaking public-private collaboration initiatives that acknowledge the seriousness of the problems our food systems are facing.
“Sahel Consulting stands ready to collaborate with all pertinent organizations to put the ideas and strategies from this conference into practice, supporting long-term business models that will spur rapid growth.”