- Children at risk of starvation, malnutrition
- Food experts urge FG to invest in research
Fresh indications have emerged that food crisis is imminent in Nigeria in no distant time if the country fails to deploy innovation and technology into its food industry to boost productivity and sufficiency.
Some food safety experts who raised the alarm listed the country’s rising population amid huge technology gaps, lack of enabling environment for researchers, inadequate funding for research, high processing losses and lack of sustainable policy confronting the food industry as factors that could negatively impact on the lives of the people, if nothing was done to ensure food security.
The United Nations had projected that Nigeria would be the world’s third most populous country by the year 2050 if left unchecked.
continuous increase in Nigeria’s population without innovation and technology in the food industry as well as in agriculture to meet the population’s demand for food, would certainly lead to food crisis
According to the food experts, continuous increase in Nigeria’s population without innovation and technology in the food industry as well as in agriculture to meet the population’s demand for food, would certainly lead to food crisis with its enormous attendant health consequences such as starvation and malnutrition, especially among women and children.
Food scientists, under the auspices of Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), raised the alarm during the just concluded 42nd Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the institute, which held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL),Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Speaking on the theme of the conference, titled:“Innovations in Food Science and Technology for Sustainable Economic Growth”, the Keynote Speaker, Prof. Michael Ngadi, Director, Department of Bioresources Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, said Nigeria must be adequately prepared against any possible outbreak of food crisis through innovative and creative ideas.
Ngadi, who was represented by Professor Akindele Alonge of the Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering, University of Uyo, said innovations and creativity were needed to achieve zero hunger in the country and also address the severe food insecurity looming in Africa, a situation, he noted, would largely result in childhood wasting, stunting and mortality.
He revealed that many children would die of starvation if not addressed, adding that it would be extremely difficult to feed children in 2050 because of the many mouths to feed.
“It has been projected that by 2050, the world’s population will be 9.6 billion people and Nigeria will be the third largest country in the world after India and China. And there are three basic issues that will affect the world if care is not taken and solutions not proffered. These issues are food, energy and water. Now, food comes first among the three issues especially in Nigeria and some other African countries. So, there is need for us to be active in terms of innovative ideas and technologies that can help boost food production and sufficiency in the country. Otherwise, we would have serious problem on our hands,” he said.
Revealing that the future of food security in Nigeria would largely depend on innovation and technology to boost productivity in the food and agricultural sector, Ngadi, called on all stakeholders, including government, researchers and farmers to rise to the challenge by coming together to finding innovative and indigenous solutions to the problem.
The food scientist assured that innovation and technology remains the path to competitiveness and growth in the food value chain.
He further suggested that the culture of innovation be cultivated in the food industry, stressing that innovations do not happen by
chance.
According to him, innovation is not transferable; it has to be indigenous and must involve people, urging food experts to locate the problem and find solutions to them.
Declaring the conference open, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, Prof. Felix Salako, in his remarks, said agriculture is now about technology and value addition, and no longer about hoe and cutlass.
Citing the robust researches carried out in cassava by Nigerian scientists and their potential benefits to the food industry, Salako noted that scientists in the country have a lot to offer if given the right and enabling environment to operate.
“Nigeria has great food scientists who have produced many things including, odourless fufu, FUNAAB palm wine, and cassava bread. So, why are we importing wheat that we cannot produce in Nigeria? It simply shows that the country takes delight in importing things,” he said.
Calling for more investment in research, Salako expressed regret over lack of government’s support for research, especially in the area of funding and political will even when scientists are working hard and doing their best.
The 42nd conference which witnessed various paper presentations on new discoveries in food production, processing and packaging, produced Mr.Toye Oluwole as the 22nd National President of NIFST, who promised to bring innovation into the food industry and also move the institute forward during his tenure.
In his acceptance speech, Oluwole, who took over from Dr. Dahiru Adamu, said: “We will develop programmes to tackle the gap between the food industry and the academia. This is a big project that we collectively must sit down to find solutions and implement.”
Besides the induction of new members and fellows , the well-attended conference by members of the institute, officials of Ogun State government, food industries, researchers, scientists,food professionals and students of food science and technology witnessed a cultural night organised for participants by the Alake of Egbaland,Oba Adedotun Gbadebo.
NIFST, with over 6000 members, is a registered non-profit making body representing food professionals drawn from the academia, industry, government and research organisations in
Nigeria.
