World Food Day: Goalkeepers’ Report and Food Security in Nigeria III

World Food Day: Goalkeepers’ Report and Food Security in Nigeria III

Errata, a sincere apology for the “printer’s devil” on the title of my article, “World Food Day: Gate Keepers’ Report and Food Security in Nigeria I and II”, published on 26^th October, 2018 and 2^nd November, 2018. I erroneously exchanged the word “Goal” for “gate”. The corrected title is as presented now. Readers may recall the 2-parts article dwelled on the Agricultural Performance Survey Report (APS), which was conducted by NAERLS and presented on the World Food Day. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Abdulkadir Muazu made the public presentation. The concluding part of the article is focused on the scorecard of goalkeepers report.  The 2018 APS report provides the latest baseline information and status of food security in Nigeria. What is the scorecard of goalkeepers report in respect of food security in Nigeria now and future? This was the question that ended the second part of this article.

2018 APS provides a rosy picture agricultural performance in Nigeria with marginal productivity increase compared to the 2017 performance. However, the goalkeepers’ report presented in October 2018 provides a rather gloomy picture on Nigerian stride against poverty. “Nigeria will have 152 million people in extreme poverty out of a projected population of 429 million by the year 2050” the report indicated. Going by this figure, it means that Nigeria will represent about 36% of the total number of people in “extreme poverty” Worldwide. By the same year, 2050, Nigerian population is expected to overshoot to 450 million people, as the third most populous country in the World after India and China.  This means that one out of three people in Nigeria will be among the people in the class of “extreme poverty”.

The report further revealed, “Extreme poverty is becoming heavily concentrated in sub-Saharan African countries. By 2050, that’s where 86 per cent of the extremely poor people in the world are projected to live. The challenge is that within Africa, poverty is concentrating in just a handful of very fast-growing countries, more than 40 per cent of the extremely poor people in the world will live in just two countries: Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Even within these countries, poverty is still concentrating in certain areas”. As expected, the report received the momentous publicity globally as a “wakeup call” to the leadership of the two countries for planning and strategizing to avert this calamity. However, it is pertinent to understand the rationale behind the goalkeepers’ report and the authors of the report. Before then, what is “extreme poverty”? What is the implication of people living in “extreme poverty”?

Extreme poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury is one and the same according to Wikipedia. The word was originally defined by the United Nations in 1995 as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services". (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty.) However, in 2018, the word "extreme poverty" was simplified to means people living below the international poverty line of $1.90/day, equivalent to N674 a day in 2011 prices, equivalent to $2.07 (N735 a day in 2017 prices as set by the World Bank. This measure is the equivalent to making $1.00 a day in 1996 US prices, hence the widely used expression, living on "less than a dollar a day".  In 2018, the vast majority of those in extreme poverty – 96% – reside in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, The West Indies, East Asia and the Pacific; nearly half live in India and China alone. As of 25 June 2018, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world with more than 86 million of its citizens living in extreme poverty despite abundant resources https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2018/06/19/the-start-of-a-new-poverty-narrative/.

The foregoing analysis has brought out the “extreme poverty” situation, which is a preventable situation especially in Nigeria. To prevent it with clear reference to Nigeria, the goalkeepers’ report recommended a massive investment in the health and education of young people, or “human capital and improving access to birth control. Africa predominantly has a young population, with nearly 60% under the age of 25. The median age is 18”, the report added.

The “Goalkeepers Report” is an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation (BMGF). It provides an annual assessment report of how countries across the globe are making efforts towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. It acts as a mirror for the countries to look at their progress in their efforts of achieving SDGs. Those who fared well are celebrated as heroes who made a difference towards attaining the targets while those with below average performance are similarly shown what they should do to improve. What are the SDGs?

The SDGs are comprehensive issues of human development and environmental sustainability that provide a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all globally. They address the global challenges retarding the progress of a society/country. The issues are related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. There are seventeen SDGs, which are interconnected, with some being interrelated for easy way to achieve and assess progress. Countries under United Nations umbrella have given the year, 2030 as a target for the achievements of the SDGs. The first four SDGs are very fundamental to the development of any society. These are “zero poverty (SDG1), zero hunger (SDG2), Good health and well being (SDG3) and quality education (SDG4)”, respectively. The achievement of these four can immensely contribute to the achievement of other SDGs. Readers can access the SDGs via https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/  

It is now clear that Nigeria can be made to avoid this gloomy picture of extreme poverty and refuse to be the headquarters of extreme poor people in the World. To do this, the nation must listen to the advise of the co-author of the Goalkeepers report, Mr. Bill Gate who incidentally visited the country just before the release of the report. During his visit, which was awash by high level publicity, he was quoted saying “Given the rate of population growth going on throughout Africa, which is particularly true in Nigeria, the challenge of getting that quality of governance is huge, hence countries should invest in human capital development”. He further said, “Nigeria has some strength. It is better off economically than a lot of other African countries. It has got a lot of very capable, college-educated people that care about these issues. But today, the performance in a number of states of the health and education system definitely falls short. And in order to have this bargain where you say, ‘Hey, we are going to raise tax levels,’ people will have to get a sense that the money is being spent in an effective way,” he said.

On agriculture, Gates believes a developing country serious about eradicating poverty should improve its agricultural sector, this, he said was the first step needed. “If farmers can get better advice on agricultural extension, advice about which seeds to use, when to plant them, and how to access credit for fertilizer, you can get more than a doubling in that productivity. And, of course, the benefits of that are very dramatic because poor farmers make up such a huge part of the people in developing countries. “Historically, the strongest examples come from Asia where China reformed its agricultural sector in 1989 and then had almost a tripling of output because they went for the better seeds and they developed the credit system, they also figured out where they should do irrigation and where they shouldn’t. Today, African agriculture, including Nigeria’s, basically has a productivity level similar to what China had before those reforms”

In conclusion, NAERLS has brought out the true field situation of agricultural performance in the country and brought out set of recommendations for improved performance. It is high time that government at all tiers should invest more in agricultural extension, which instantly triple the agricultural productivity nationwide.