The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi on Monday charged President Bola Tinubu-led government to invest in agriculture in a bid to end the lingering food crisis in the country.
Naija News gathered that Obi made this call in a statement released to commemorate 2023 World Food Day.
The former Governor of Anambra State submitted that if the Federal Government agreed to utilise the fertile soil in the northern part of the country for agriculture, the food crisis ravaging the nation would be alleviated.
Obi lamented how the activities of non-state actors causing mayhem in many Nigerian communities are sabotaging food production.
The statement reads, “As the global community marks World Food Day today, we must remind ourselves of the present food crisis in the nation, and seek urgent steps to salvage the people from further hunger and starvation.
“Food crisis has remained a serious challenge facing many households in Nigeria as the country is reported, by Global Hunger Index, to be facing a serious hunger level. With more than half of the population living in poverty, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has shown that over 90 million Nigerians face food.
“Insecurity, thus posing obstacles to a healthy population and human development. In the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria ranked 109th out of the 125 countries measured, showing that we currently battle high levels of hunger.
“Reports have it that Nigeria’s food inflation rate in August 2023 was about 30 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Consequently, a vast majority of Nigerians spend the entirety of their disposable income on food, which is often hardly enough.
“The horrible spate of attacks on farmers in Nigeria by armed and terror groups have continued to hinder food production, and food supplies and therefore, threatening to push the country deeper into a devastating hunger crisis. Lack of adequate investment in agriculture also contributes greatly to the food crisis in Nigeria.
“I have maintained that the vast fertile lands in the North if put into productive agricultural use, will produce enough food for domestic consumption and for exports, which can give us more revenue than we generate from oil.
“Government, therefore, must invest heavily in agriculture, to ensure sufficient food production for Nigeria and the global world. Happy World Food Day.”
