BY FOLORUNSHO SUNDAY OLALERE
Nigeria and other African countries, as well as the United Nations (UN), have called for collective action, to combat food insecurity on the global stage.
According to them, Africa needs predictable concession finance to invest in agriculture, rural transformation, infrastructure and literacy, while climate finance must be aligned with the food system
This is just as the Vice President Kashim Shettima said Nigeria is scaling its agricultural drive with modern technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), geospatial analytics and satellite-driven climate intelligence to end food insecurity in the country.
Senator Shettima, who joined other African leaders on Monday at the opening session of the United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said the target is to ensure a future that is anchored in abundance, equity and human dignity
This, he explained, followed the unveiling of the nation’s National Food Systems Transformation Pathway, leading to the rollout of targeted investments in infrastructure and human capacity.
Stating that the declaration of a national emergency on food security in Nigeria did not just amount to raising the alarm, the VP said, “It’s the reason we are advancing the Presidential Initiative on Food Security, a mission designed to upscale the cultivation of vital staples – maize, rice, cassava and wheat.
The Vice President outlined other investments in agriculture to include the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, just as he pointed out that the zones being developed in partnership with the African Development Bank and IFAD are not just places of production but also engines of transformation.
On his part, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Abiy Ahmed, described the summit as a moment to take stock and to renew a shared commitment to building food systems that are resilient and inclusive.
Ahmed noted that Africa needs predictable concession finance to invest in agriculture, rural transformation, infrastructure and literacy, adding that climate finance must be aligned with the food system “because hunger and environmental degradation are deeply linked.”
According to him, since the first food system summit in 2021, Ethiopia has launched a comprehensive roadmap for food system transformation.
On his part, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, who spoke through a recorded videocast, noted that food systems are about more than food, saying they include climate, justice and the right to a better future.