FG raises alarm over worsening food insecurity, says 161m Nigerians now affected

The Federal Government has sounded the alarm over growing food insecurity in the country, disclosing that around 161 million Nigerians now face uncertain access to food, even as steps are being taken to head off a looming crisis in food and nutrition.

This was revealed in Abuja on Friday by Alhaji Nuhu Kilishi, Director of the Nutrition and Food Safety Department at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, during a stakeholders’ consultative session focused on creating a Food and Nutrition Security Crisis Preparedness Plan (FNSCPP).

The initiative stems from the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) project, a state-led effort funded by the World Bank, designed to combat malnutrition by expanding cost-effective nutrition services to vulnerable groups.

According to Kilishi, the food insecurity situation has sharply escalated, with moderate to severe cases rising from 35 per cent in 2014 to roughly 74 per cent in recent years.

“Only 20 per cent of Nigerians are currently food secure, meaning they are certain of their next meal,”he said, linking the troubling figures to the ongoing insecurity and worsening economic conditions.

Kilishi noted that widespread violence, including banditry and kidnapping, had discouraged farming and shrunk cultivated land nationwide.

“Inflation and rising prices of food inputs and commodities have also made it difficult for households to afford healthy diets,”he added.

He described the current food and nutrition outlook as especially grim in areas affected by conflict. However, he pointed to several government-led strategies aimed at mitigating the situation.

“Among them is the distribution of seeds and inputs to support homestead gardening across all 774 Local Government Areas.We have secured World Bank funding to implement this plan in 21 states, while the remaining 15 states will be supported through federal resources,”he said.

Dr Ritgak Tilley-Gyado, a Senior Health Specialist with the World Bank, also spoke at the event. She explained that the ANRiN programme, which started in 2018, had now entered its second phase.

“With additional crisis response window financing made available, the aim now is to strengthen Nigeria’s systems to prevent future food and nutrition crises,”she said.

She further stated that the current phase of the plan focuses more on preventive measures and building resilience, rather than waiting to respond to emergencies.