The Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, Prof. Abubakar O.Sulaiman has said that with less than seven years to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set date, Nigeria needed to do more to address its food and nutrition challenges

Prof. Sulaiman said this at a one-day workshop for stakeholders on policies for food and nutrition security on Thursday in Abuja.

The workshop was organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in collaboration with Joint Research Centre (JRC), an agency of the European Commission.

He said that government spending in the food and nutrition sector had increased over the years, adding that the ‘nutrition capture’ in the budgets remained a concern.

He added that there was a need to close the funding gap required to enable the country to return to a steady trajectory for food and nutrition security.

“This workshop, therefore, offers an opportunity for the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and NILDS to share findings and experience with stakeholders on how best to tackle food and nutrition insecurity in Nigeria

“I believe this will also include ways on how to curtail the external shocks that worsen Nigeria’s food and nutrition security, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis and other concerns from the global economy,” he said.

Also speaking, Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, says the Nigerian government is investing in dry season farming to address nutrition and food insecurity in the country.
Part of the measures to curtail the ravaging food crisis in the country, the minister, said include making available to farmers improved seedlings and fertilisers to boost farm productivity.

Represented by Nuhu Kilishi, the director, nutrition and food safety, the minister called for a stakeholders’ partnership to address food insecurity in the country,saying food security requires a multisectoral approach rather than a one-industry approach.