World Food Day 2020: To Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together.

Despite deliberate social distancing in parts of the world in order to slow the spread of the Corona Virus, one lasting lesson from the COVID19 pandemic is the need for togetherness and collaboration especially in the midst of travails that threaten us all. The pandemic also emphasized the need to ensure our food systems are at all times active and efficient, catering to the nutritional needs of millions of people around the world.

(Photo credit: FAO,2020)

It is estimated that the impact of the COVID19 pandemic may increase the number of hungry persons from about a 690million people in 2019 to over an 800million people between 2020 and 2021, depending on the economic growth scenario. This is in view of the fact that poor and vulnerable persons from communities in developing countries were worst hit, leading to higher rates of food insecurity as food either became scarce or was sold at higher prices where available.

As we strive to achieve zero hunger by the year 2030, the theme of this year’s #worldfoodday calls for collective action to build food systems that are resilient to shock. This includes inputs from producers and suppliers across the agricultural value-chain, manufacturers, governments, financiers, and more importantly the everyday consumer.

In order to continually maintain efficient food systems, every role player needs to be intentional as a part of the unit working for the world’s greater good. We need to make conscious efforts and choices to promote growing and consuming safe and nutritious food sustainably, taking into consideration the needs of others and the future of generations yet unborn.

As a producer, this will be reflected by how much of your processes adhere to global best practices for sustainable agricultural intensification. This will ensure that we sustainably grow foods to nourish the world’s population together.

As a supplier, protecting the environment and ensuring the safety of foods in the course of transportation from the farm to the fork will ensure we sustainably make nutritious food available together.

As consumers, making the right food choices, growing some portion of your own food within a home garden as well as avoiding food wastage ensures that our food system sustainably grows nutritious food at all times.

As a government, well-thought-out implementable policies that consider the needs of stakeholders in the food production system, including policies that protect the environment in the midst of intensified production as well as secure the food production and supply workforce which will ensure we sustainably grow and nourish together as a people.

Also, building systems to enable farmer’s access finance for agricultural activities especially in the rural communities as most of the communities with high productivity will ensure we sustainably grow the right quantities of food, enough for everyone.

The world needs not wait for another pandemic before we put our food systems in order. Beginning from “yesterday”, we should strengthen our food production processes and infrastructure against uncertainties such as the CoronaVirus. In doing so, we can grow, nourish, sustain. Together!

To our #foodheroes all around the world, producing and supplying food in the midst of these difficult times, we see you and we celebrate you.

Happy world food day!

The Author

Ogbole Esther

''As an agriculture enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

 

 

National security and food security: The way forward

In my last article, I shared my views on the relationship between national and food security and how much the former can impact the achievement of the latter. It is established that the achievement of food and nutrition security in addition to other factors is highly dependent on the strength of a nation’s security. Threats to national security can lead to loss of life, destruction of farmlands, and migration of the food production workforce as earlier stated. It can also stall infrastructural development, market access, and other variables involved in the food supply chain. Therefore, it can be concluded that insecurity threatens the production, demand, and supply of food. 

Insecurity depletes the quantity and quality of food produced as the process of adopting improved practices are affected. Many rural farming communities in Nigeria with the potential to produce large quantities of agricultural commodities are cut-off from activities of researchers and extension agents, consequent upon security challenges inherent in these locations. For example, research extension activities have slowed down in some farming communities in Kaduna State, mainly because of incessant community clashes. These communities are not readily accessed in disseminating information on available markets/off-takers, improved farming practices, and technologies, as well as new and improved plant varieties required for improved productivity. Farmers in these communities sometimes also lack access to agro-inputs and agricultural support initiatives from government, private and international donor agencies.

While we often complain of the government’s ineptitude towards recurring issues such as finance, research, information dissemination, infrastructural development and near-extinction of the region’s farming population who are predominantly aged people, there is a need to urgently address emerging threats to the security of existing resources to ensure optimum production in the midst of increasing population and urbanization.

 In synergizing food and national security for sustained livelihoods, the following are a few recommendations on sustainable approaches for improvement:

 It is important to clearly identify and understand the root causes of these conflicts/insurgencies for the implementation of more effective conflict  resolution initiatives;

 There is a need to ensure that conflicts are resolved through an all-inclusive and participatory approach - elimination of a biased approach to conflict resolution;

 The government needs to “genuinely” commit time, personnel, and other resources to combat security challenges. When resources are deployed, activities should be monitored regularly for sustained change;

 Government and Stakeholders should collaboratively create an enabling environment for youth participation in agriculture through the creation of more employment opportunities in the sector as well as the implementation of education and entrepreneurship initiatives.

 Ensure that displaced persons are settled back in their original homes after having created a secure and peaceful environment;

 Build resilience by helping communities prevent, anticipate, prepare for, cope with, and recover from conflicts through economic empowerment

 Investment in food security through infrastructural development.

In conclusion, an approach to synergizing national security and food security should be multifaceted to ensure sustainability. This way livelihoods, resources, and economies are harnessed to ensure that the process of producing and supplying food is safe for all and that all persons have access to sufficient, readily available, quality food by the year 2030.

The Author

Ogbole Esther

''As an agriculture enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

National security and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa

National and food security are indeed two intertwined and sacrosanct concepts; neither is exclusive of the other in that they complement one another. Although food security is an aspect of national security, the role the latter plays in the achievement of the former makes it almost as important and weighty.

National security is an all-encompassing concept that entrenches variables such as power (military strength and economic capacity) and national defence (protection of the sovereignty of a nation by its armed forces). In contemporary times, its scope has widened, involving concepts such as economic and political security, natural resource security, food and cybersecurity and so much more. National security has been defined as the security and defence of a nation-state, including its citizens, economies and institutions, which is regarded as the duty of government¹. Since food security plays a role in achieving economic security which is a non-military dimension of national security, this definition emphasizes that national and food security are closely linked.

Food security, on the other hand, is said to exist when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life². This implies that hunger and starvation would be the order-of-the-day in a nation or part of any nation torn by the pangs of conflicts and unrest arising from insecurity in whatever form. The aforementioned definition of food security as promulgated by the 1996 World Food Summit ensures that food security is only achieved when there is sufficient supply of food and citizens are able to demand it based on their economic ability to access these foods. 

While national security ensures that the workforce required by the food production system is safe and have an enabling environment to produce and/or supply food to a population with ready access, it is important to note that the inability to access food also puts a given population on a path to conflict and unrest which invariably poses a threat to national security. This is clearly a cycle that continues to affect millions of lives around the world particularly persons living in developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Helon Habila’s political fictional novel - Travelers - gives an insight into the plight of African migrants in Europe; able-bodied men and women, and children with potentials from nationally insecure war-torn countries, seeking better lives millions of miles away from home. Many die in the process; others turn to vices for survival. Sometimes, these persons, running from rural communities leave behind farmlands and other economic sustaining agricultural activities. Have we stopped to ask ourselves what percentage of the food production workforce may be part of these migrants across the world and how this impacts on the goal to achieve food security by the year 2030?

According to the International Organization of Migrants (IOM), there are about 272 Million migrants globally, persons forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict and extreme violence amongst other factors that threaten national security. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a joint briefing recount “protracted conflict” as one of the main causes of hunger around the world. This is not far-fetched as the livelihoods of rural populations - who account for a greater proportion of the farming families around the world - are mostly affected in situations of unrest.

The Boko Haram crisis which has affected parts of Nigeria and Cameroon since 2009, led to a destruction of food crops and livestock and forced farmers to flee from their communities leaving a large expanse of arable lands uncultivated for several years. Asides the Boko Haram Crises in North-East Nigeria, farmers in the North-West have been gravely affected by activities of bandits, while their counterparts in the North-Central suffer from clashes between crop and livestock farmers (farmer-herder clashes). This in times past spread to parts of the South-West, South-East and South-South, while kidnapping, rape and ethnic conflicts remain other security concerns for farmers in different parts of the country. Contextualizing the aforementioned, it is clear that the achievement of food and nutrition security in Nigeria remains threatened for as long as these security challenges remain unresolved. 

In Congo, an estimate of 4.5million persons in 2011 experienced a food crisis aggravated by population displacement and a decline in agricultural productivity arising from the protracted conflict. Ranked as one of the countries with the highest levels of hunger in the world, conflict in addition to the effect of climate change has caused more persons to suffer from hunger and malnutrition in Chad where most of the country’s population depends largely on farming and livestock for survival. This is the case of many other Sub-Sahara African countries.

With the rising rate of economic, religious, cultural and politically motivated security challenges in the region, with Mali as the most recent cause for concern,  how close or far away are we from ensuring that variables tied to national security are properly structured and managed to achieve food and nutrition security by 2030?

Kindly lookout for my next article, where I would be sharing some recommendations for synergizing national and food security for sustainable livelihood.

The Author

Ogbole Esther.

''As an agriculture enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

Food Inflation: The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Demand and Supply in Nigeria.

Food inflation is said to occur when the total demand for food within a given period exceeds supply, leading to an upsurge in the price (Qayyum and Sultana, 2018). It is a reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money as it applies to food, implying too much money chasing too few food items. In simpler terms, food inflation occurs when the value/quantity of food items a consumer can purchase declines as a result of increased prices. While research has shown that food inflation may favour export-driven economies that will benefit from increased prices, it remains a major challenge for countries that depend on imports. Worse hit are developing nations where a shock in food price volatility translates to more persons going hungry and without food. 

According to reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in April 2020, food inflation in Nigeria increased to 14.98% in March 2020 - the highest rate year-on-year since March, 2018. This report was released prior to changes that came with the COVID-19 lockdown measures initiated by the Nigerian government in parts of the country from 30th March 2020. 

Although the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported a sharp decline in the world prices of food items such as vegetable oil, cereals, sugar and dairy products except for rice, because of “demand-side contractions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in crude oil prices”. The same cannot be said of domestically produced and consumed food items like staples in Nigeria. This is due to a spike in demand and interrupted supply hinged on logistical issues associated with the restrictions in movement. It is expected that demand for food may continue to increase or reach a sustained peak for as long as the full or partial lockdown persists, with production almost unaffected for as long as farmers remain uninfected and are encouraged to continue with farming activities. But sustained supply related issues from both ends of agricultural inputs to farmers and output commodities to consumers despite continued production may lead to an upsurge in Consumer Price Index (CPI) which will lead to higher rates of food inflation if left unattended.

Therefore, the likelihood of a COVID-19 induced food inflation to occur would be hinged on containment measures, inhibiting supply and consumer panic behaviour, increasing demand. This is a deviation from the conventional causes of food inflation such as climate change, high oil prices, and world trade policies. Consequently, if adequate measures are not put in place, food inflation may become a term synonymous with the world’s current order – a period described as the “new normal” and characterized by never-before-seen challenges and the need to develop new survival strategies. 

The need for countries to look inwards is imperative. This could be achieved by intensifying local production, opening up reserves, researching on improved ways to manage supply chains domestically and across borders for countries highly dependent on imports. Achieving this provides more opportunities for farmers who are able to take advantage of increased demand for staples as full and/or partial lockdowns are in effect. Some measures to manage the current situation and prevent more spikes in food prices would be the implementation of food price stability by the government, linking farmers to market programmes, deliberate efforts to support the supply of agricultural commodities as well as the intensification of research and knowledge sharing amongst relevant stakeholders.

PS: At the point of publishing this article, the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest report revealed that food inflation in Nigeria for April spiked to 15.03% from 14.98% in March as local markets in some parts of the FCT - the country’s capital - are running out of stock of fresh food items mostly imported from the far North as restrictions on inter-state movements persist. Although the increased inflation rate is only about 0.05% increase from March to April as against a 0.08% increase from February to March 2020, measures still need to be put in place to prevent a sustained increase.

References:

Food and Agriculture Organisation (2020): World Food Prices Drop in March. Available at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1269050/icode/

National Bureau of Statistics (2020): Selected Food Prices Watch, March 2020. Available at https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary

National Bureau of Statistics (2020): CPI and Inflation Report, April 2020. Available at https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary

Trading Economics (2020): Nigeria Food Inflation:1996-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar | Historical. Available at https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/food-inflation 

Qayyum, A. and Sultana, B. (2018): Factors of Food Inflation: Evidence from Time Series of Pakistan. Journal of Banking and Finance Management, 1 (2), 22 – 30

The Author

Ogbole Esther.

''As an agricultural enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

 

 

 

 

Rebuilding for better: Policies for post-COVID-19.

For a long time, one of the reasons deemed responsible for slow progress in the diversification efforts of economies in parts of sub-Saharan Africa was Rural-Urban Migration, which has seen large numbers of young people moving into the already crowded big cities in search of better opportunities. Informal job roles in rural communities within the agriculture value chains have been abandoned for ‘decent’ employments in cities, leaving fewer hands to produce our much-needed farm foods and resurrect our economies through the exportation of cash crops. This begs the question, ‘what happens after the coronavirus pandemic?' What will be the new normal for food production, cost of inputs and access to new markets, with jobs lost and businesses shutting their doors for good, what policies should be adopted to help us rebuild our food systems for a food-secure future.

The world found ways to move on from several plagues in the past, such as, the Black Death (1346-1353), which was said to have changed the course of Europe’s history, the Flu pandemic (1889-1890) killing over a million people, the Spanish flu (1918-1920) of over 500 million cases of which no less than one-fifth died from it, and many others. One similarity about these past incidents is that the world devised ways to re-build all that was lost and move on, but what about lessons learnt? Especially on how vulnerable and outdated our systems are.

Before the Covid-19 global pandemic, the United Nations had a global target of ending hunger and poverty (SDGs 1 and 2) among 15 other goals, by the year 2030, it was projected that the global food production will need to increase by anywhere from 25-70% between now and 2050 in order to feed our growing population. These projections from available data, informed food policies in many countries of the world and formed bases for intervention programmes in developing countries. Now, more than ever, the impact of Covid-19 on achieving sustainable development goals 1 and 2 is likely to cost us additional years than earlier planned as we have seen a rapid rise in the number of hungry children and families around the world. Local economies are halted, and countries are at the verge of falling into a recession. The affordability and accessibility to essential food items are limited in vulnerable communities, leaving many households hungry and impoverished

Post-COVID-19 will see drastic changes in many sectors around the world, for sub-Saharan Africa to build on lessons learned from this global pandemic, re-building for a better food system will require: 

• Drawing lessons from previous events to design better policies: Policies that facilitate the transfer of food products to places where they are most needed, policies around the export of agricultural products and Fairtrade.
• Developing standards for agriculture in emergencies: Ensuring access to food in the middle of a global pandemic was never considered by most governments of developing countries, developing a working plan for similar incidence gives us a better fighting chance against future pandemics.
• Investing in environmental and sustainable food production research: Investing in research aimed at sustainable ways of growing our food without causing harm to our environment is vital as climate change, in a few years maybe more severe than a global pandemic.
• Prioritizing the needs of those who grow our food: The people who grow our food are some of the poorest in our communities and the least considered for capacity building opportunities and capital incentives.
• Appropriate budgeting for the agricultural sector: Adequate budget allocation will increase the reach of intervention programmes, capacity building and technological advancement in sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture.
• Resume an inquiry into existing ministries of agriculture, environment and other regulatory agencies to understand the work that they do and how this has changed over the years in line with the needs of our growing population.

Our collective effort will determine how effectively we rebuild our communities, countries and economies post-COVID-19, embracing changes we have seen as effective and modifying those that are less effective. Young people in agriculture, especially, have a role to play in building a more-resilient food sector within our different countries.

 The Author

Lilian Umeakunne

Lilian Umeakunne is a food security and livelihoods specialist devoted to making a change in African Agriculture. Follow her on social media to share your thoughts and contribute your ideas to solving Africa's greatest problem - hunger and poverty.

Handles
LinkedIn: Lilian Umeakunne
Twitter: @Lily_Umeh
Facebook: Lilian Umeakunne.

COVID-19 Pandemic - impact on Food Security in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ensuring access to safe and nutritious food during the COVID-19 pandemic is pivotal to saving lives among the most vulnerable as food prices increase drastically in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. As the regulations are tightened to prevent further spread of the virus, food supply chains are strained due to bottle-necks in transporting food products from point A to B. Before now, rural communities have had to deal with challenges facing the agricultural sector such as the limited  market for their produce, which now exposes vulnerable communities to hunger and starvation during this time. The Covid-19 pandemic not only affects significant elements of both food supply and demand but also exposes the lapses in our food systems with insight on areas we should look to strengthen in the future.

As countries are on either partial or full lockdown, people who depend on wages have lost their income-earning opportunities which have greatly impacted purchase/consumption and access to safe nutritious food. There have also been few changes in consumer behaviour, such as fewer visits to site markets (slaughterhouses), hoarding and dietary changes due to fewer food choices brought about by unavailability and increased cost of food. Unless we keep global food supply chains alive, food crises are likely to affect the most vulnerable during the global pandemic. The lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic will inform our food policies for years to come.

Border closures, lockdown regulations and market and supply chain disruptions could restrict people’s access to safe, sufficient, nutritious food especially in communities hit hard by the coronavirus or previously at risk of food insecurity. Prices of food have seen an unprecedented rise in the past few weeks in different parts of Africa and may continue to rise as food vendors report that restrictions on travel and high transportation costs make it harder and more expensive to move food products to places where they are needed. Food imports are one of the ways countries in the region supplement local production to meet the growing demand for food and food products, with international food export on halt, countries who depend largely on importation are facing great challenges in accessing enough food especially staples such as rice.

Local food production has been suspended by companies in lieu of government regulations to protect staff and the public, locally sourced staples have seen a great price jump threatening food and nutrition security in vulnerable communities. Food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa before now have struggled to receive the attention it deserves from government and policymakers which has increased the vulnerability of our food systems and our ability to manage our food supply amidst the global pandemic.

Recommendations

To avoid disruptions to the food supply chain and food production, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging all countries to:

• Keep international trade open and take measures that protect their food supply chain (from obtaining inputs such as seeds to assuring smallholder farmers have access to markets to sell their produce).
• Focus on the needs of the most vulnerable and scale-up social protection programmes including cash transfers.
• Keep their domestic food supply value chains alive and functioning.
• Taking all necessary precautions, seeds and planting materials must continue to flow to smallholders; animal feed to livestock breeders; and aquaculture inputs to fish farmers. Agricultural supply chains should be kept alive in-line with health safety concerns.
• Maintain agricultural activities.

Read more here

The Author.

Lilian Umeakunne

Lilian Umeakunne is a Food security and livelihoods specialist devoted to making a change in African Agriculture. 
Follow her on social media to share your thoughts and contribute your ideas to solving Africa's greatest problem - hunger and poverty.

Handles
LinkedIn: Lilian Umeakunne
Twitter: @Lily_Umeh
Facebook: Lilian Umeakunne.

Global lock-down threatens food and nutrition security

The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed brought about major economic, social and political changes across the globe and life as we know has greatly changed. Markets, offices, schools and religious houses have been closed; major streets are now deserted while busy cities have been locked down in different countries. Amidst the imposition of curfews and restrictions of movement by various countries, one of the major concerns is how the pandemic impacts the food system. This is considering the frequent calls on citizens to stock up for a long haul thus increasing demand for food as well as affected food businesses that have had to close in the wake of the pandemic. It is now obvious that we require more than just technology to survive.

A post on the Bloomberg Opinion Instagram handle aptly read, “the Corona Virus reminds us that we’re in our essence… creatures that cannot bite into bytes, eat algorithms or disinfect with bandwidth, as someone has to grow, harvest and deliver our food…” This emphasizes that the entire agricultural value chain is dependent on humans who must move from one place to another, thus, begging the question, how do we survive when availability due to inactivity becomes a problem?

An interaction with role-players in the agricultural sector across different countries revealed that current issues and fears in agriculture at this time include scarcity of agricultural commodities; inefficient supply chains; food-price volatility arising from the aforementioned as well as rising demands amidst a shortage of supplies; wastage/loss of agricultural commodities; shortage of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and other agro-chemicals, considering individuals have since closed down businesses and are remaining at home; rejected exports due to border closure; slow imports for countries that depend mainly on imported food items; halted extension services; poor coordination of agricultural activities; fears of delayed/lost 2020 farming season; paused research efforts and so much more.

In Nigeria, as soon as the government announced its intention to lock down the three main States affected by the pandemic viz-a-viz Lagos – the commercial hub of the country, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – the country’s administrative capital and Ogun State due to its proximity to Lagos State to stem the spread of the virus, food prices doubled as many traders took advantage of the opportunity to exploit desperate consumers. Rural farmers on the other hand have gone ahead with activities in preparation for the 2020 farming season with an uninformed notion that the Corona Virus is an infection that affects only the rich. In addition, certain projects like the PIATA funded Fertilizer Systems Strengthening Project that seeks to promote the use of crop/site-specific fertilizers across four commodity value chains in the country has since been brought to an abrupt halt.

In a joint press briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF), the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), a journalist posed a question at the Federal Government’s representative as to what its plan was to deal with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s predictions on looming food crises; while various responses were given, there was none that addressed this particular question. The FG does have plans beyond opening up grain reserves to meet the current food demands of the country’s population.

Reports from other parts of Africa show that the virus has not been spread to rural areas where a bulk of the continents farming population reside and operate from. In Ethiopia, similar to the case of Nigerian farmers, plans for the forthcoming farming season is ongoing as the government makes frantic efforts to get agricultural inputs across to farmers at subsidized rates, while in Zimbabwe reports of fatality arising from the virus has forced farmers to shun farming activities. In Kenya, there were reports of destroyed fresh roses as the pandemic had crashed the commodity’s demand in Europe although the government has made efforts to provide grains to its population amidst the lock-down.  It is reported that in Sierra Leone, on the other hand, farmers continue to encounter difficulties in accessing agricultural inputs.

While it is comprehensible that at the top of our minds is the urgent need to flatten the COVID-19 curve, also of great importance is the need to strengthen our food distribution systems. It is therefore imperative for stakeholders as a matter of urgency, to strategize on ways to ensure steady food production and supply within and after this period. This we must achieve bearing in mind the strong words of the Ghanaian President – Nana Akufo-Addo – that ““although we know how to recover our economies after the pandemic, what we do not know how to do is bring the dead back to life” thus emphasizing the need to stay at home and strategize on ways to co-exist even as we physically stay apart in the interim.

Thank you for reading. Please remember to avoid being emotionally isolated from family and friends. Let’s focus on strengthening bonds even with the physical distance to maintain sound mental health amid anxiety, fear, confusion and uncertainty.

The Author

''As an agricultural enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

SOILS AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Soil resources are at the center of spurring economic growth across the globe, because in addition to other benefits, soils anchor the well being of natural and human resources that foster strengthened global economies. The soil is so important that it contributes meaningfully to at least six (6) of the seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the achievement of the United Nation’s agenda for sustainable development by the year 2030.

Source: doorcountypulse

I bet a lot of us have never thought so highly of the soils we trample upon daily and pay little attention to? Well, this article seeks to enlighten readers on the relationship or the place of soils in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

SDG 1 – No Poverty: the first on the United Nations SDG’s is the achievement of a world with no poverty by ending all forms of poverty everywhere including in developing nations of the world. Agriculture owing to its numerous benefits plays a major role in eradicating poverty especially amongst the rural population who depend mainly on agricultural activities for survival and improved livelihoods. Beyond increasing farmer’s income, in eradicating poverty, agriculture lowers food price volatility, increases food supply, creates more job opportunities and contributes to nation building. However, it is also pertinent to note that in agreement with Parikh and James (2012), soils have an underlying role as the foundation for agriculture and agricultural production, which makes soil resources a major role player in eradicating poverty globally.

SDG 2 – Zero Hunger: According to Kopittke, Menzies, Wang, McKenna and Lombi (2019), soils account for 98.8% of the food produced globally.  The Sustainable Development Goal 2 seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. This invariably implies that if soils are the largest medium for sustainable food production across the globe, then they have a direct impact on the achievement of food and nutrition security, considering that soil-less agriculture by itself may not be sufficient to meet up with the increase in global food demands as a result of industrialization and rapidly increasing human population. It is based on this that Soil Scientists make a common chant – “No soil, No food production”.

SDG 3 – Good Health and Well Being: how can we “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” if there is not enough nutritious food to cater to human nutrient needs, or if our degrading environmental resources put us at risk of water pollution, flooding, soil erosion, desertification and so on? Beyond contributing to economic growth through increased agricultural production, healthy soils have a major role to play in the preservation of environmental resources, as they contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, ensure the availability of clean air by providing a medium for tree growth, storage of carbon, regulate temperature and basically serves as foundation for ecosystem functionalities, thus ensuring that humans across the globe maintain good health and well being.

SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitization: soil is an integral part of the water cycle. According to Sindelar (2015) for Soil Science Society of America, the aforementioned is seen in the soils functionality of capturing water, serving as a natural water reservoir, as well as a natural filter in ensuring that clean water is available for all, at all times, thus contributing to the achievement of SDG 6 which seeks to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. Target 6.3 identifies the need to improve water quality by reducing pollution and this can be achieved through healthy soils, as soils that are polluted invariably lead to polluted water bodies through surface runoffs thus endangering humans and the environment.

SDG 13  - Climate Action: the European Environment Agency in a publication released in 2019, stated that soils and climate change have a conjunct relationship because soils are the second largest Carbon sink, giving soils the opportunity to naturally trap carbon stocks. In addition, soils provide a platform for plant growth in the form of trees and generally, crop covers that ensure that carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored. This enables soils to contribute meaningfully to “taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. In climate change adaptation, healthy soils with high organic matter content have the potentials to hold water in terms of excessive rainfall, thus hindering floods and soil erosion and emphasizing the role of soils in both climate change adaptation and mitigation.

SDG 15 – Life on Land: this goal seeks to “protect, store and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, more sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. Globally, nutrient imbalance; acidification; organic carbon loss; soil leaching; soil erosion and so on are major threats and causal factors of land degradation (FAO, 2015). This puts land/soil resources at risk in meeting environmental and economic needs (through progressive and sustainable agriculture). This invariably implies that to ensure that there is life on land, soil resources need to be protected and put to efficient use and this can be achieved through the promotion of sustainable soil management practices such as precision nutrient management in the form of soil analysis; application of site specific fertilizer products; ensuring soils are protected through cover cropping and so on. On the other aspects of the goal, soils are required to sustainably manage forests because it is the medium upon which forests are formed. Combating desertification also requires soils for afforestation and reforestation and other methods of cover cropping to serve as wind breaks.

The role of soils in the achievement of these SDGs further emphasizes the important role soils have to play in human existence. This calls for collective actions to ensure that soil resources are effectively managed as earlier stated to ensure that by 2030, we have a world void of poverty, food and nutrition secured that will ensure healthy living with reversed effects of climate change.

References

European Environment Agency (2019): Soil, Land and Climate Change. An article published on the European Environment Agency website. https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2019-content-list/articles/soil-land-and-climate-changeood

Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO (2015): Status of the World’s Soil Resources: Main Report

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Author:

Ogbole Esther

'As an agricultural enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.

CURBING FOOD WASTAGE FOR ZERO HUNGER

How can we achieve food security if one-third of the food produced globally is wasted?

The first part of this article (here) gave a brief overview of the global status of food waste and proffered smart individual waste reduction practices such as to avoid overfeeding; making a shopping list before heading to the supermarket; checking the refrigerator before shopping to avoid buying what you already have and so on. These simple yet effective practices are important as it is often said that the best means to curb waste would be to not produce it at all.

Notwithstanding, other approaches can be adopted to manage food waste. These include: reuse or recycle (or up-cycle as it is sometimes called) the waste produced.

Reuse: This involves the use of food in its original form for other purposes such as redistribution to regions of inadequacy; as animal feed and as a good source of compost for home gardening. Basically, reusing food waste involves re-purposing without technological transformation to serve as raw material for other industries as is the case with recycling.

Image source: Google

Recycle: Despite being one of the most advocated approaches in food waste management, it has been stated previously that recycling is less sustainable in comparison with reuse of food waste, seeing as recycling can also produce waste and cause pollution in the treatment process. In spite of this line of thought, recycling of food waste is a fast-rising, profitable aspect of the agricultural value chain and is known to be an effective means of food waste management. This involves the transformation of avoidable (bread, rice, vegetables) and unavoidable (yam peels, eggshells, snail shells, orange peels) food waste into reusable forms like animal feed, organic fertilizers high in Calcium such as fertilizers produced from snail and eggshells, generation of sustainable and renewable energy as is in the case of biogas plant and so much more.

The environmental, social and economic impacts of food waste as stated in the last article cannot be overemphasized, thus, in aligning with the thoughts of Jasmine Crowe in a TedTalk on “what we’re getting wrong in the fight to end hunger” that we need to waste less to feed more and reduce the number of persons who are food insecure across the globe. It is imperative for governments and private individuals to intensify efforts especially in developing regions of the world like the sub-Saharan Africa where food is not only wasted as a result of poor infrastructural development but as a result of little-to-no awareness on waste management as well.

Farmers within this region are most affected as they painstakingly produce surplus with the hope of making huge profits but are often left disappointed as large quantities of these produces are left to waste owing to the inability to store, process or access existing markets outside their communities. Therefore, a good place to start would be to intensify sensitization of rural farmers who bear the most grunt of food waste. In the absence of immediate government infrastructural intervention programmes, they can be taught local recycling methods that would not only benefit the environment but also serve as another source of income thus, improving their livelihoods and contributing to the achievement of food and nutrition security.

Need I say that the gateway to achieving food security might just be to adopt effective means of redistributing food currently produced across the globe from regions of surplus to regions of the deficit, rather than focus on intensifying food production; but we just might never know if we fail to collectively combat food waste.

Author:

Ogbole Esther.

''As an agricultural enthusiast, I have long had a passion for contributing my quota to the growth and development of the Nigeria agricultural sector and this birthed an interest in research to see what and how precisely agricultural strategies are implemented in developed economies of the world and how they can be adapted to suit the Nigerian scenario''.