The Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), has said that security challenges have contributed to the mass problem of hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria.
The society, which staged its 54th Annual Scientific Conference, from 16th to 20th September, 2024 in Kano has alleged that the current security problems has contributed to the national crisis of inadequate food production, stating that this has invoked poverty on women and prominent severe cases of malnutrition in children.
The national president of the society, professor Wasiu Afolabi, in a chat with journalists in Kano, Friday at the end of the NSN annual nutrition scientific week, decried that security challenges such as banditry and kidnapping were part of the factors that are promoting inadequate food production.
The nutrition scholar further decried that owing to security challenge farmers could no longer stay on their farms to produce food.
He also disparaged the continuous rise in inflation, noting that this is one of the core factors and many citizens are being denied access to adequate food.
He further lamented that issues around climate change has also culminated into rampant perennial cases of flooding, desertification and other effects resulting into the depreciating state of food production, that is presently being witnessed in Nigeria.
The society said that cases of flooding in several parts of Nigeria have resulted in the washing away of expanse of farm lands, which has contributed to inadequate food in the land.
He appealed to Nigerian authorities at all strata to proceed into partnership with critical stakeholders with the goal to embark on massive food production programmes to address the issues bordering on inadequate food production.
The august gathering opine that there also exist the urgent need for the development of new strategies in growing crops that will improve nutritional values.
Adding that, the time is ripe in Nigeria to adopt the use of Artificial Intelligence to improve nutrition with the motive to take women and children out of poverty and malnutrition.
According to Prof Wasiu, there is the immediate need to develop tools for the creation of awareness on nutrition amongst the populace, noting that, if the citizen are well informed on how to combine food varieties to achieve nutritional balance, the notoriety of malnutrition, hunger and poverty would be curbed.
