The National Food Consumption and Micronutrients Survey has revealed that 79 per cent of households are food insecure in Nigeria.
This is contained in the 2021 National Food Consumption and Micronutrients Survey report launched in Abuja by the Federal government in collaboration with foreign partners and other stakeholders in the food sector, according to Vanguard.
The report also showed that only about 21 per cent of Nigerian households are food secure, while 59 per cent is moderately food insecure and another 20 per cent are severely food insecure.
According to one of the researchers, Dr. Olarinwaju Isiaka, in the last seven days before the survey, about 41.5 % of households were without funds for food purchases whereas only 4% had very little. He said that the report focused on women’s productive years, children aged 0-59 months, and girls in their early adolescent years.
On the issue of hygiene, he said about 23 percent of households in Nigeria are not having toilet facilities.
Further breakdown of the report indicates that 62.9% of households in Nigeria within the period under review have access to improved water sources and another 42.6% have access to borehole water systems, while 17.40% of households have access to protective well water.
On the geo-political level, it was shown that South East and South South zones had the lowest percentage of pipe-borne water and highest borehole access, whereas the Western and Northern regions fare better followed by South South geo-political zones.
Commenting on the report, the Country Director of GAIN, Dr. Michael Ojo said it was worrisome “that we are not going forward in water supply from 11-1.1%, showing a decline of 10% within 10 years”.
He said Nigeria’s food system has problems because every stakeholder has been working in silos without addressing the root cause noting that concerted efforts are needed to fix the country’s food system, adding that what happens before and after the food system needs to be taken into account.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food security is attained when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
Meanwhile, in the National Bureau of Statistics Nigeria’s annual 2023 report, The Food inflation rate in February 2024 was 37.92% on a year-on-year basis, which was 13.57% points higher compared to the rate recorded in February 2023 (24.35%).
