Tackle Insecurity In Nigeria To Avoid Food Shortage, Nutrition Society Of Nigeria Tells FG

Posted by Ignatius Okpara Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Friday, September 24th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) has urged president Muhammadu Buhari Government to urgently tackle the lingering insecurity In the country so as to save the nation from inherent danger of food shortage.

President of the Society, Professor Wasiu Afolabi, gave the charge in Enugu at the opening ceremony of the 51st Annual Scientific conference and general meeting of the body.

According to him, farmers no longer go to their farms for fear of being attacked and killed and this has led to the widespread food shortage and poor food system that is being experienced today in the country.

The NSN boss, noted that about 2 in every 5 children in Nigeria are stunted, while a cumulative number of adults go hungry every day due to poverty and deteriorating security conditions which continues to overwhelm the country.

Afolabi explained that the theme for the conference “Promoting healthy diets through food systems transformation” is aptly in line with the global movement and concern on how to meet the challenges of providing adequate and healthy food to the world population while also ensuring that the environment is protected to support life.

While quoting the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2018, Afolabi said that there was more hunger and malnutrition in the northern part of Nigeria, he said which is the major food producing region in the country.

“Due to the rising wave of insecurity, hunger and malnutrition is also creeping to other zones,” he said. “The enabling environment must be created for farmers to produce good food, to increase production” he said.