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Nigeria may be set for one of its worse food crisis as the World Bank has listed the continent’s biggest economy among countries with acute food insecurity.
The Washington-based bank also projected that poverty and food insecurity will weigh on the country’s economic recovery.
World Bank said, “Increased insecurity has worsened fragility and is expected to reduce access to food for many more people across the region.
“The resulting increases in the number of poor, especially in countries where many people were already experiencing acute food insecurity because of violence and conflict (Nigeria, South Sudan) are expected to weigh on economic recoveries.”
In an effort to feed over 200 million people in a rapidly growing economy, the Nigerian government has invested N1.067trn in the last seven years in its agricultural programmes- the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
Also, under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) which is overseen by the Central Bank of Nigeria, N745.3bn has been disbursed for agro-production and agro-processing.
But the country’s position in the hunger index has been on the surge as it is ranked 103 among 121 countries by the Global Hunger Index in 2022.
Experts had last year projected a food crisis in 2023 following the country’s worst flood in recent history which swept 33 out of 36 states- majorly agricultural hubs.
The country’s inflation currently at 21.47 per cent is on the surge and driven by the food component which is at all-time high of 24.13 per cent in November.
Food shortages in Africa’s biggest economy have been caused by insecurity which has sacked farmers from their farms.
The Nigerian Agric sector grew by 20.07 per cent in nominal terms in Q3 2022, reflecting an increase of 12.13 per cent from the same quarter of 2021, but it has not been reflected in the food supply, experts have argued.
