Obasanjo, IITA unveil roadmap to zero hunger in Nigeria

The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan over the weekend held a stakeholder meeting to draw a roadmap to end hunger in Nigeria by the year 2030.

This was contained in a statement made available to BusinessDay, stating that the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategy meeting, which received support from the World Food Program, was organized in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) that seeks to end hunger in the country by 2030.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who convened the meeting, said that the task of attaining the SDGs could not be left for the government alone; neither could it be left for the civil society nor the private sector.

“It is going to take the collective effort of each and every citizen of this great nation and our partners. It will require our collective change of mindset to at first identify the opportunities that abound,” he said.

Obasanjo commended the efforts of the international community towards fighting hunger and poverty, citing efforts and gains made under the Millennium Development Goals.

The former president said that even though the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may not have achieved all its targets, the SDGs presented Nigeria another unique opportunity to drive its development agenda and end hunger.

According to him, Nigeria’s continued importation of food was unacceptable and requested that efforts be made to address the country’s food import bill.

Stanlake Samkanga, representative of the World Food Program (WFP), explained that unlike the MDGs, which were driven by the United Nations, the SDGs would be driven by members of state.

According to Samkanga, the SDGs will be achieved by countries themselves, and the WFP AND THE United Nations role is to support countries in achieving these goals. “WFP’s role is to be a catalyst in a country –owned process,” he said.

On the sidelines, Nteranya Sanginga, director general, IITA, commended the Nigerian people for their willingness to drive the initiative.

He said that IITA would provide the necessary support for Nigeria to achieve its target within the framework of the Zero Hunger initiative.

Chiji Ojukwu, director with the African Development Bank (AfDB), expressed the commitment of the Bank to initiatives that would help Africa to feed itself. He said that the Bank was ready to work with Nigerian authorities in the Nigeria Zero Hunger process, through the commodity value-chain to end hunger and poverty.

About 50 key participants from government, ministries, development organizations, international entities, and public and private sectors attended the strategic meeting.

Josephine Okojie