Friday, June 7, 2013

90 Million Nigerians are malnourished

As Nigerians join rest of the world to celebrate this year World Environment Day, experts say more than half of Nigeria populace are underfed and malnourished.
Executive Director of foremost Nigeria advocacy group, the Environmental Right Action/Friends of the Earth, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo said many Nigerians are dying  of hunger daily.
Speaking at a Press Conference to celebrate the event, the theme; Think, Eat, Safe, Reduce your food print, Uyi said over 1.2 Billion people in the world goes to bed hungry and about half die of starvation and malnutrition.
Uyi called on government to address the problem of food waste and deficit. "first, there is the urgent need to fix the deplorable road network that seriously affect transportation of food from area of surplus to area of deficit".
He called on all tiers of government and business to invest on a post harvest food preservation enterprise as a visible way of preserving food produced in Nigeria.
He called on Government to support small scale farmers who represent about 70% of the population since they have the capacity to feed our growing population and be gainfully employed.
He however condemn the spate of land grabbing by some state government in collusion with cooperation which met the falseful appropriation of farm lands belonging to small holder farmers and transferring same to large scale farmer in the name of foreign investment. "This barely disguised land grabbing scheme should seize and land acquired from small holder farmers in this process should be returned to them. "Our system of food production is by organic and small scale farming, if government empower the communal farmers, it would boast local food security"
He said land grabbing threatens food security in Nigeria.
He however emphasised the need to minimize unnecessary food purchases and food wastage and to cautiously reflect on our roles as stewards of nature and the planet and to take decisive action to protect and preserve mother earth. He noted  that food is a human right and to be given with dignity according to tenement of communal living.