By Hillary Asemota
While the prices of food items across the country is hitting roof tops and out of the reach of the Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in New York reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to attain food security.
The President told the Food Systems Summit as part of the high-level meetings of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, that Nigeria had developed a “food system focused development agenda that prioritizes healthy diets and affordable nutrition, inclusive, efficient, resilient, and sustainable, which will contribute to rebuilding our economy, creating jobs and spurring growth across sectors while sustaining our ecosystems.”
The Nigerian leader said the plan was the outcome of a wide range stakeholder-engagement geared towards a better understanding of their food systems, experiences and needs.
According to Buhari: “following the recommendations from the dialogues and our plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade, Nigeria is committed to: investing in food security and nutrition knowledge dissemination, skills’ development, and information management systems to enhance agricultural productivity; building sustainable, responsive, and inclusive food systems; enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers and empowering women and youths for greater access to food production; while strengthening climate mitigation strategies and conflict early warning systems that will reduce the many stresses and shocks to our food systems.”
He commended the initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for convening the Summit, calling it “a bold step towards achieving the 2030 global development agenda at a time COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant consequences are threatening progress.”
Buhari, stressed that as Nigeria works “to transform our food systems and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 agenda, we hope to learn from, and collaborate with member states that have grappled or are grappling with food systems concerns similar to ours.”
“We especially support the emerging coalitions of actions and sustainable food systems,” he added.