The Africa Exchange (AFEX), a commodity trade solutions company launched its 2024 Wet Season Crop Production Report on Thursday in Abuja, highlighting the critical role of data-driven decision making in addressing Nigeria’s food security challenges.
The report also highlights the struggles of the Nigerian agricultural commodities market, characterized by significant price volatility due to climate change, domestic supply shocks, and global supply chain disruptions.
During the event, Mr. Ade Adefeko, Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Olam, emphasized the importance of commodity exchanges in ensuring price discovery and stability.
While giving an address as a panelist on the theme, The Answer is in the Data: Charting Strategic Solutions to Nigeria’s Food Crisis, Adefeko stated: “The country faces a food crisis with two issues: availability and affordability. National security and food security are intertwined, and it’s crucial for us to sort it out.”
Adefeko noted that Olam works with 35,000 farmers across Nigeria, particularly in rice production, and relies on data from extension workers, the Nigerian Meteorological section, and other sources to inform decision making.
“Data segmentation is very important as it will guide and help us to look and fill the gaps.”
Meanwhile, Khadijat Osman, representing the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, echoed the importance of data-driven solutions.
In her words: “Data is information, and if you are not informed, you are lost. Without data, there is no insight. We need to find ways to get data to farmers in marginalized communities and from them to enhance food production.”
Osman highlighted the Unit’s mandate to enhance national capacity for data-driven decision making, improve dialogues, and address food insecurity.
“The policy makers and the leaders of the economy are in the minority while the majority is the farmers. We need to put more effort into going local in obtaining these data to solve all the various food crises facing the country and promote productivity,” she submitted.