Nigerians numbering 31.5 million are projected to face acute hunger from June to August this year with a lean season in 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Of this figure, 83, 846 are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The situation, according to the latest Cadre Harmonise analysis, will be particularly dire in the northeastern states of Borno with 2.1 million people, Yobe State with 1.5 million and Adamawa State with 1.1 million people who are projected to be in phase 3 of the food and nutrition insecurity during this period. This disturbing report was released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and other partners. The latest data represents a significant increase of about 4.6 million people from the 26.5 million earlier projected in November 2023 for the period. According to the report, several factors contribute to the alarming food insecurity, including conflicts and insecurity in the North-East, North-Central and the North-West; fuel scarcity, naira devaluation crisis, galloping inflation and the consumer price index. The report also shows that the development poses serious nutrition implications for children under the age of five, especially in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and the North-West states of Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara.

Though the projection is scary, it can be averted if federal and state governments as well as their agencies rise up to their responsibilities. Nigerians would not have gone through untold hardship over the years in the midst of abundance if those who held public offices were sincere, altruistic and visionary, and the same can be said of the current situation. With the countrys natural endowments in vast, arable land, variety of crops and the generally clement climate, Nigeria can afford to guarantee food security and bolster the agro-allied production chain.We have repeatedly stated that the frightening level of hunger and privation in the country at the moment cannot be addressed through palliatives and handouts by the federal and state governments, a response that does not address the fundamental issue of continuing decline in production and productivity in the economy. There is every indication of the intensification of hunger in the land as attested to by the projections of experts and concerned organisations, yet the government continues to drag its feet, pretending that the problem will solve itself even as it continues to lead Nigerians on with ineffective slogans that do not translate into production and supply of food and other items. The government has to apprehend the urgency of the current situation as hunger would ineluctably lead to anger, which would be disruptive to peace and social stability.

According to the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), one of the 18 National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agriculture as the foundation of the Nigerian economy still employs about 35 percent of Nigerians. Sadly, as affirmed by the agency, as of June 2022, 82 percent of the over 100 million farmers were subsistent smallholders. This is a tragedy given that Nigeria has about 70.8 million hectares of agricultural land. Despite the allocations to the sector by governments, certain drawbacks, including limited access to credit and land, abysmal level of irrigation development, limited adoption of research findings and technologies, high cost of farm inputs, inadequate storage facilities and collateral security and crisis-ridden distribution channels, have persisted. This is without prejudice to the effects of climate change. The alarm on imminent mass hunger in a country wheremillions of people are already trapped in abject poverty brings back the grim pictures of the misery witnessed in Ethiopia when the eastern country was ravaged byacute food shortage and famine following an internecinecivil war aggravated by climate change.

In any case, with dozens of higher institutions offering agricultural courses and no fewer than 15 institutes specialising in food crop research, not to talk of the colleges of agriculture spread across the country, there is indeed no basis for the looming danger if the leaders had done the needful and harnessed the inherent potentials of these institutions. Each of the institutions has experimental farms and is mandated to offer extension services to stakeholders in the agriculture chain. Above all, the country is endowed with arable land and tropical climate suitable for the cultivation of cash and arable root crops like cassava, yam, wheat, millet, sorghum, potatoes, among other staple crops that are on huge demand regardless of season and time. So, it is disturbing that Nigeria still depends on less than 30 percent of the more than 200 million human population to produce food for local consumption and export. The government must shelve its accustomed lethargy, give these agencies necessary support, and reverse the hunger prognosis immediately.

Over the years, the states of the country have failed to uphold the principle of comparative advantage. They have given little or no impetus to harnessing the huge opportunities in the cultivation and production of food crops. It is also lamentable that there is little action on food production in most parts of the country once the rainy season eclipses. Thus, the prices of essential food items escalate geometrically until the dry season abates. The government must reverse this trend. Besides, the safety of the lives of farmers and other stakeholders in the food chain must be guaranteed. At the moment, the terrorists who invade farms and kill farmers at will and put the expressways under siege have made farming a suicide mission. In staving off the imminent mass hungerinthecountry, the safety of farmers cannot be compromised. Again, the states should take advantage of the rainy season to boost agriculture, but they can also build lakes and invest more in irrigation farming.They should give priority to the kind of mechanised farming mechanism under former Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State where young graduates ran farms that were equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. Failure to do so will mean catastrophic consequences.