Chief Olusegun Obasanjo |
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said
the Synthesis Report of the Nigeria Zero
Hunger Strategic Review provided a framework that would unlock the
potential of Nigeria and emancipate her from the shackles of hunger and
poverty. He made the statement at the recent launch of a strategic plan and
roadmap to achieve zero hunger by 2030.
The plan, tagged, “Synthesis Report of the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic Review” articulates
what Nigeria needs to do to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)—one
of the recently adopted global goals that seeks to “end hunger, achieve food
security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who chairs
the development of the Synthesis Report said, “The report would support and
encourage the government to implement the policies, strategies, plans, and
programs that have been formulated over many years, and to do so with a focus
on achieving Zero Hunger by 2030, if not earlier.”
He noted that the establishment of
the Nigeria Zero Hunger Forum based at International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), would ensure that recommendations contained in the
Synthesis Report and the individual Subcommittee reports are implemented.
“We must do all we can so that this
effort does not suffer the fate of previous endeavours,” he stressed.
The former President commended
President Muhammadu Buhari for endorsing the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic
Review. He lauded Ms Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food
Programme (WFP) for funding and requesting that the review be conducted, and
gave special thanks to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for providing
majority of the funds, which financed the Review.
The Director of
Policy and Program, World Food Programme, Mr StanlakeSamkange commended Nigeria
for developing the strategic document, emphasizing that the Report was the
first in West Africa and would be a guide for other countries to emulate. He
reiterated that the task of ending hunger cannot be solved by a single organization
and lauded the collaborations of the different actors in the development of the
Report.
The inauguration of the Synthesis Report will
be backed with immediate implementation in four states of the federation—Benue,
Ebonyi, Ogun and Sokoto beginning this January.
In January 2019 eight more states
will be added and by January 2021, all 36 States plus Abuja will be included.
The Director General of the IITA, Dr
Nteranya Sanginga said the Synthesis Report was a departure from other previous
reports in the sense that it would be backed by immediate actions.
According to him, IITA would continue
to support states with relevant technologies cutting across crops such as
cassava, maize, cowpea, yam, soybean, banana and plantain among others.
The 60-page home-developed document reflects
Nigerians’ perspectives as to what steps need to be taken to win the battle
against hunger and malnutrition.
To tap its rich agricultural potential and
lift over 13 million people from hunger, Nigeria in 2015 endorsed a set of 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of efforts to achieve sustainable
development in general.
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