The Federal Government of Nigeria should officially draw the attention of the United Nations, World Bank , European Union (EU), African Union (AU), and other relevant bodies to put intervention measures in the food sector and starvation. The strategies will help to reduce the consequences which will spring up in the nearest future.
Cons Ejiogu, a renowned development consultant and food expert told our correspondent in a chat while expressing worries that Nigeria might not contain the consequences that would arise from acute food shortages and starvation, just as he advised Federal Government to consult international bodies. He noted that the best time to draw the attention of the international bodies to deploy their strategic measures is now.
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Cons Ejiogu, a development consultant and food expert said, “some of the intervention strategies should come from the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, the African Union and a few other multilateral development agencies.”
The expert, who spoke recently to BusinessDay at Owerri Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA), stated that “the United Nations, World Bank, the European Union, the African Union and other multinational agencies are experienced in issues of tackling food insecurity and starvation and have what it will require to avert any food crisis that will rear its ugly head.”
He said further that “the United Nations has a department for early warning against food insecurity, and mitigation strategies which eventually is not available in our country, not just been available but our people are not informed about it”.
The expert recalled that the World Bank last year rolled out a $30 billion programme which one of the programmes was called Global Food Crisis Response Facility.
“In Liberia for instance, two Nigerian consultants have enabled them to attract $30 million out of this fund”, he added. He however regretted that the Nigeria Government had not done anything about accessing the fund.
“Our Government is having the impression that all is well at the Federal level but, that is not true at all”, Ejiogu said.
He however advised the Federal Government to help individuals, groups and corporate organisations that wish to go into “mechanized agriculture” in the Country to do so, pointing out that rice farming ,for instance as an intervention strategy, would mature within four months”.
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He suggested that the if rice was harvested it could be stored in preservation centres or in silos.
He noted he had spoken about it to some State Governments in the Country as well as Imo State Investment Promotion Agency (ISIPA), but they could not act on the advice.
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