Ade Adefeko, Director of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs at Olam Agri, has urgently called for action to address Nigeria’s deepening food crisis. In an interview with Arise Television, Adefeko highlighted concerns from the United Nations World Food Programme, projecting that 31.8 million Nigerians will face severe hunger between June and August 2024 due to insufficient funding.
Adefeko criticized the consistently low agricultural budget allocations over the past three years, noting a decline rather than an increase in sector funding. He emphasized that despite competing priorities like healthcare and education, agriculture should be treated as a matter of national security.
With Nigeria’s population projected to reach 229 million, Adefeko underscored that food insecurity affects over 226 million people, presenting a critical national security issue. He urged the federal government to leverage Nigeria’s competitive advantages in global markets, particularly with key staple crops such as cocoa, sesame, and cashew.
Adefeko called for strategic interventions to boost food production, including increased fertilizer supply, mechanization support for farmers, and enhanced agricultural research for better seed varieties. He emphasized the need for improved seedlings and varieties to significantly increase crop yields, pointing out Nigeria’s current yield averages compared unfavorably to global standards.
To enhance food production further, Adefeko recommended adopting mechanized farming practices similar to those in other developing nations, stressing the importance of government incentives to subsidize production rather than consumption. The United Nations World Food Programme report attributed Nigeria’s food insecurity to ongoing conflicts in key agricultural regions, high input and transportation costs, and over-reliance on market purchases due to below-average staple production.
