FAO’s Garwe on how to address food system vulnerabilities in Nigeria

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has emphasized the urgent need for the Nigerian government to address domestic food production deficits in order to reduce food system vulnerabilities. In a recent interview on CNBC Africa, Wadzanai Garwe, an Economist at FAO, shed light on the challenges facing Nigeria's food system and the crucial steps required to enhance food security and sustainability in the country. The global assessment of Nigeria's food systems conducted ahead of the UN food summit highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach that moves beyond traditional notions of food security, focusing on the entire food production chain from farm to fork. This systemic perspective takes into account various dimensions including environmental sustainability, territorial balance, socioeconomic factors, and food security and nutrition. Nigeria, like many other countries, grapples with complex issues such as climate change impacting farmers, territorial disparities between regions, socioeconomic inequalities, and nutritional challenges like malnutrition and obesity.