HUNGER AND POVERTY A MILLENNIAL FIGHT FOR THE STRONGEST LEADERS

a report by the United Nations World Food Program has suggested that about 44 countries across the World are in dire need of food, the shortest Supply of food has plunged these countries into hunger, preceded by excessive poverty caused by the recession. 

Countries in crisis requiring external assistance for food are expected to lack the resources to deal with reported critical problems of food insecurity.  I extracted some reasons why Nigeria was included in the list despite its riches and being the Number one economy in Africa. 

According to the latest CH analysis, about 12.9 million people are estimated to require humanitarian food assistance between October and December 2021 because of the worsening conflict that is driving new population displacements, particularly in Northern states, high food prices and reduced household purchasing power. Over 3 million people are estimated to be internally displaced in Northern states due to civil insecurity and natural disasters. The areas inaccessible to humanitarian interventions are facing the worst food insecurity conditions.

In the upcoming peak of the lean season, between June and August 2022, 18 million people are projected to face severe food insecurity. The crisis in the Northeast, which has been wallowing in the Boko Haram insurgency since 2014, and the recent banditry in the Northwest States has contributed much severity. A good percentage of people are no longer farming, those that have the time to go to farms, are doing it in distress with caution and or by paying some Ransome to terrorists. Hence the cause of hunger and shortage of food, and leads to the insecurity Nigeria and many Nations found themselves. 

In Nigeria, it is no longer News about poverty, hunger and corruption, it's a story that has been streamlined in the blood veins of this country, it is rooted deep to the point of many citizens no longer bother when it is mentioned. The preceded governments haven't done anything to curve the menace that has been eating us and threatening to kill us. President Muhammad Buhari once said in his campaign, "Let us kill corruption, before corruption kills Nigeria". He was right, it is the corruption that plunged this country to where it is today, people no longer value integrity but how much they can extract from a person vying for a political office, government officials are now certified contractors if not fronting for a corrupt contractor to inflate the contract sum. Security structures are decaying despite the humongous spendings by the government on defence. 

FAILED AGRICULTURE PROGRAM

In November 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ABP to boost agricultural production and reverse Nigeria's negative balance of payments on food. Farmers captured under this programme include those cultivating cereals (rice, maize, wheat etc.)

cotton, roots and tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato and livestock.

Loans are disbursed to the beneficiary farmers through Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), which the programme recognises as Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs). From 2015 to date, what are the achievement of the anchor borrowers project? 

A total of 3,107,890 farmers had been financed for the cultivation of 3,801,397 hectares across 21 commodities through 23 Participating Financial Institutions in the 36 States of the Federation and FCT, from the inception of the programme till date,” Mr Emefiele said. Under the 2020 wet season CBN-RIFAN partnership, the bank also financed 221,450 farmers for the cultivation of 221,450 hectares in 32 States.

About 3.1 million farmers benefited from the ABP of the CBN, and it is no longer news that there is massive disbursement of funds to Farmers groups that owe about ₦77bn. But the question is, had the program achieved its objective? Why is it that, the project that was launched in 2015 could not rid Nigeria of hunger, have the farmers not cultivated enough to feed Nigeria? Although corruption is widely been the major reason for the hickory of every project in this country, there are other problems attributed to the woeful failure of the ABP the major one is insecurities. The situations in the Northeast of ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgency, and the Northwest of the Fulani Bandits/kidnappers has bedevilled the much-expected bumper harvest of agriculture, in the Northeast, for instance, it is for years people has not cultivated their farms in many areas of the four states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe, although there is security improvement that the terrorists are

 decimated to the extent of they can't take over a territory, still, the mode of guerilla attacks they unleash on people make it hard to predict the next attack and thereby preventing people from going to the farm.

In the North West States of Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kaduna, the Bandits are having their field days, visiting terror people, abducting people from farms for Ransome, this is the hindrance that affects farming and these are the major reason for hunger and shortage of food in Nigeria. 

Some analysts also opined that the recent economic policy of President BUHARI has contributed much to the poverty index in the country, border restrictions and to some extent closure to prevent the influx of some foreign goods contribute to the predicament, although the government argued that it was to stop and checkmate the influx of small arms into the country.  But many people have found the reason to be incoherence and wickedness, the great majority of Northerners depends on their land borders for supplies from neighbouring countries of the Niger Republic and Cameroon, but the border closure only increases in the inflicting hardship that has already been itching people since the beginning of Boko Haram insurgency. 

Another reason for poverty and restiveness among the youth is the government's ban on Crypto Currency trade, the government through the CBN banned Nigerian Banks from dealing in trading with Crypto, the government claims that digital currency has no regulations, and terrorists are using Bitcoin to trade arms and ammunition without a trace, but banning the crypto causes many people that embrace it as means of livelihood to loose much and be exploring another means of survival. 

How can our government solve these problems? What measures can we take to stop poverty, hunger and insecurity? The 3 are interrelated and one can only be relinquished by getting rid of the others. 

1. Government should consider reopening the border for the importation of food to supplement the shortages. 

2. Financial policy on FX should also be revised.

3. Tax implementation should also be revised to make things easy for businesses.

4. The ABP program should be wholeheartedly revised to include every farmer that is willing to borrow.

5. Agricultural implements must be subsidised to mitigate the poverty line.

6. Security apparatus and structures must be overhauled to get rid of corruption between them.

7. The fight against corruption in Nigeria must be intense and honestly discharge. 

With these and many more, I believe Nigeria can be great again to overcome all the challenges of poverty and hunger. 

©® A.M.SALIHU

Write from Bauchi, Nigeria.