Just like World Egg Day, the world food day is a day set aside by the United Nations Organization (UNO) through one of its agencies, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16th October of every year to celebrate and advance the course of food security globally especially in times of crisis.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the celebration is to create awareness for
people who do not have enough resources to provide for food and as a result, leading to hunger and serious starvation. It also serves as an avenue for implementing agricultural policies by government across the globe towards ensuring that food is available for people.
Also, The
Oyo state government has assured the people of the State that there would be
food sustenance and abundance of farm produce due to sufficient rainfall this
year and preparedness of the government to feed the masses.
Wole
Shokunbi, is the immediate past chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun
state council, in his word, said, the major concern of FAO, a specialized agency
of UNO, is primarily to lead international efforts to defeat hunger. It is
designed by UNO to achieve food security for people to have regular access to
high-quality food for healthy living.
He
furthered
"But,
how far have these countries of the world actualize this goal when countries
like Kenya, Philippine, Pakistan and other third world countries find it
difficult to cater for the need of their citizens due to the skyrocketing of foods
thereby throwing a large number of children into hunger."
Shokumbi
said the reports from the UN indicate that over 800 million people globally still
do not have enough food to eat while so many people are suffering from
malnutrition because of poor feeding. As a result of these global challenges,
the international community through FAO in conjunction with various governments
and international stakeholders and Non –Governmental Organizations. (NGO) are
working round the clock towards finding a lasting political will, strong enough
to break the cycle of poverty, by promoting the new global development goal on
hunger.
"In
Nigeria, Governments at all levels have designed so many programmes in the agricultural sector to alleviate the suffering of the masses by ensuring food
security in the country. The country had witnessed Operation Feed the Nation
(OFN) during the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo between 1976 to 1979 as the military head of State which recorded a strong impact in ensuring food security
in the country."
Honorable
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Honourable Ojemuyiwa Jacob
Ojekunle, in his words, disclosed that to combat hunger, poverty, malnutrition
and degradation of natural resources, due measures are already in place to
ensure the smooth massive production of food in Oyo state.
The
commissioner stated that due to the unexpected covid-19 pandemic that affected
the country and the world at large, necessary measures are being taken by the
state government to improve the farmer’s capacity to produce more efficiently,
make provisions for farmers on what to plant and produce which includes
cassava, maize, rice, also pesticides to suppress the activities of pests so as
to improve livelihood, enhance food and nutrition, and also security.
In his
words, he said that in helping the youths, educating and insightful programmes
are already put in place to create jobs by making agriculture appealing to the
youths as many young people now see a future for themselves in Agriculture.
He
reiterated that we are in the “youth government era” and youths are the future
of food security and so to that a call has been made to the youths to come out
in great numbers and engage in agricultural activities.
He stated
further that acres of land has already been allotted for agricultural activities
in places like Ilero, Igbeti, Ogbomoso among other selected areas.
He said the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is on research on how
crops will grow in abundance, livestock production, and basically on how to be
transformed in the Agriculture sectors. Sooner or later, youths will have much
work to do as regard agriculture, he remarked.
He gave
words of assurance to the people not to panic about the invaders dealing with
their produce as necessary precautions are already put in place to legally
bring them to book, while also that names would be taken down and time measures
promising that anchor borrowers program will soon take effect for farmers to
access loans for agricultural purposes.
Furthermore,
he explained the fact that agriculture has also been extended to the younger
ones in grammar school. He said it is so because many young ones’ hurdles in
trying to earn a livelihood, they lack productive resources necessary for
agriculture, and most importantly, some see agriculture associated with rural
economies and as such it is been shunned and ridiculed.
He then
stated that it is not meant to be, as the younger ones have a role and place in
Agriculture and so now is the time to engage them in agricultural activities,
strengthen higher education in agriculture, put agriculture on the school curricular
which virtually most schools are doing now, empower them to speak up, link
social media to agriculture, improve agriculture image and enforce the greater
use of information and communication technologies (ICT), so that, contributions
will also be made by them to aid food security, improve income generation,
economic diversification and growth.
Honorable
Ojemuyiwa then encouraged the people not to give up on Agriculture because it
is the future for economic profitability, environmental health, and social
equity. He said agriculture will also be great in the future because new kinds
of agricultural machines are now starting to arise and youths are also part of
the movement and are greatly involved. He also used the medium to remind the people
of the tomorrow “World Food Day” in which he enjoined all to fully participate.
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