Commentary: World Food Day – Grow, Nourish, Sustain Together

UGOCHUKWU OKPALEKE

World Food Day promotes global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all.

The COVID-19 global health crisis has been a time to reflect on things that man truly cherishes and his most basic needs. These uncertain times have made many people rekindle their appreciation for a thing that some take for granted and many go without: food.

Food is the essence of life and the bedrock of our cultures and communities. Preserving access to safe and nutritious food is and will continue to be an essential part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for poor and vulnerable communities, who are hit hardest by the pandemic and resulting economic shocks.

In a moment like this, it is more important than ever to recognize the need to support our food heroes – farmers and workers throughout the food system – who are making sure that food makes its way from farm to fork, even amid disruptions as unprecedented as the current COVID-19 crisis.

In recent decades, the world has made significant progress in improving agricultural productivity. In Anambra, the efforts of the government have transformed the state to a food basket. However, although more than enough food are produced to feed everyone, the food systems of many are out of balance.

Hunger, obesity, environmental degradation, loss of agro-biological diversity, food loss and waste and a lack of security for food chain workers are only some of the issues that need to be checked.

As countries begin to develop and implement COVID-19 recovery plans, it is an opportunity to adopt innovative solutions based on scientific evidence so they can build back better and improve food systems, making them more resistant to shocks. World Food Day is therefore calling for global solidarity to help all populations, and especially the most vulnerable, to recover from the crisis, and to make food systems more resilient and robust so they can withstand increasing volatility and climate shocks, deliver affordable and sustainable healthy diets for all..

This will require improved social protection schemes and new opportunities offered through digitalization and e-commerce, but also more sustainable agricultural practices that preserve the Earth’s natural resources, our health, and the climate.

Countries, the private sector and civil society need to make sure that our food systems grow a variety of food to nourish a growing population and sustain the planet, together. Our actions now are our future. We all have a role to play, from increasing the overall demand for nutritious food by choosing healthy, to not letting sustainable habits fall by the wayside, despite these uncertain times.

Digital technologies are key to transforming the way food is produced, processed, traded and consumed and building more resilient and robust food systems. They have the potential to close the great digital gap between developed and developing countries, cities and rural areas, men and women, young and old.

New technologies promise revolutionary changes for farmers. These include facilities with the potential to optimize food chains, increase access to nutritious foods, reduce food loss and waste, improve water management, fight against pests and diseases or prepare farmers for disasters such as flooding.

Intensive training to enhance farmers’ digital skills, and giving voice to their needs and ideas, will be essential, as well as incentives to encourage the production of nutritious and diverse food. Government should sustain the construction of good roads to ease evacuation of farm produce as well as provide affordable loans to real farmers rather than political farmers.

They should make sure that money meant for farmers are not diverted by political pundits. Apart from providing farm inputs and water pumping machines for all round farming, government can equally do well by establishing Commodity Board to buy back excess produce from farmers. Farmers also need storage facilities to store farm produce like yams, beans, plantains, vegetables etcetera.