Recently, the Cadre Hamonise report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) revealed that 9.8 million people in 16 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory lacked adequate food.

Indeed, Nigeria is in dire straits following challenges that have been threatening her food security, including the recent #ENDSARS protests, banditry, kidnapping, spike in prices of food commodity, floods, COVID-19, herders farmers clash, climate change and general insecurity in the country, mostly in the North West region. In particular, states such as Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Benue Gombe, Taraba, Kastina, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger and FCT, among others, have been experiencing food scarcity, as captured by the FAO report. Besides, it is worrisome that droughts, floods and climate change have in recent times contributed to food shortage in Nigeria, even as the country’s agriculture has been battling with other challenges.

While reacting to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s announcement that the country’s consumer price index (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 13.71 per cent (year-on-year) for September 2020, the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Muda Yusuf, explained that there had been sustained acceleration in headline inflation since September 2019 and that the NBS’ latest inflation rate announcement of 13.71 per cent for September 2020 was the highest level since April 2018.

He explained that the persistent pressure on consumer prices stemmed largely from the sustained uptrend in food inflation. New Telegraph