We
must not forget that although the struggle for the emancipation from slavery
had been won; the struggle for the emancipation from other strangleholds on the
black person, including the strangleholds of hunger, diseases, chronic poverty,
and gender-based discrimination, corruption and available conflicts persist” –
Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria
What is food security? Well, in
attempting to answer this question, there are two key words that stand out
here- food and security.
Food, according to the dictionary is any substance that people or animals eat or drink to stay alive. Rice, bean, millet, fish, meat, water, diary products, vegetables, fruits, alcohol, wine and soft drinks are some of the foods and drinks we know.
Food, according to the dictionary is any substance that people or animals eat or drink to stay alive. Rice, bean, millet, fish, meat, water, diary products, vegetables, fruits, alcohol, wine and soft drinks are some of the foods and drinks we know.
Security, on the other hand is about
protection and freedom from threats, violence, danger, worries, bloodbath or
even death.
So, in my own words, food security is basically about safety of the stomach. A hungry man, we are told is an angry man. Very, very true. And Obasanjo, in the above quotation is dammed right.
So, in my own words, food security is basically about safety of the stomach. A hungry man, we are told is an angry man. Very, very true. And Obasanjo, in the above quotation is dammed right.
Let us zero in on Nigeria and look
at some statistics on agricultural transformation, or what some of
our fellows, including the former president, love to call green
revolution.
Nigeria, as you know has an estimated
population of about 150million people from 774 local government areas and 36
states and Abuja. Good market, if you ask me.
But, about 80% Nigerians live in the
rural areas. These citizens are mostly old, uneducated peasant farmers with
crude, obsolete tools, trying to keep their souls and body together.
On the other hand of the same coin, there are big time farmers in major cities across the countries, who are into modern, mechanized large scale farming.
On the other hand of the same coin, there are big time farmers in major cities across the countries, who are into modern, mechanized large scale farming.
These farmers in most cases export
their farm products to developed countries like the United States of America,
United Kingdom, among other countries to earn foreign currencies. Little of
these products are left for local consumption.
So, with about 98.3million hectares
of land mass in Nigeria, only 73.7millionn, representing less than 50% are
under cultivations, even as 80% of funds provided by the Nigerian government
cannot be accessed by the poor, old, uneducated farmers at the rural areas.
Yet, we are preaching the gospel of food security.
It is the rich, well connected big
time farmers that get to access the funds. No wonder, with the slave wage,
code-named minimum wage, of N18, 000, some workers cannot feed themselves with
their salaries for two weeks.
Research has shown that in the last
ten years, our beloved country has spend more about $2billion importing all
sorts of foods and drinks raging from rice, bean, meat, fish, diary products
and wheat from other countries to Nigeria.
So, what I am driving at here is
simply that it is the business of government to create an enabling environment
for farmers, big time and peasants to operate from in order to feed the
citizens. Truth is that all over the world, government does not have the
capacity to run businesses and succeed.
The serious business of ensuring
that food and drinks are available to the citizen of any country should be left
entirely in the hands of private investors, with government provide the funds,
power supply, water, fertilizers, tools and seedlings, among other items.
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