The Nigerian government has expressed its desire to deepen its relationship with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to improve food security in the country.
This was revealed by Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, during a courtesy visit by FAO Representative ad interim (a.i.) in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, Mr. Koffy Dominique Kouacou.
Kyari said the FAO’s technical expertise would be essential to achieving three of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s eight-point “Renewed Hope Agenda”: food security, job creation, and investment in agriculture.
The minister said the government is looking forward to leveraging the FAO’s global approaches and best practices to address the agricultural challenges in Nigeria, which include climate change impacts, violent crises and conflicts, high cost of farm inputs, low per capita GDP, and other problems.
During the visit, Kyari and Kouacou discussed a number of issues, including the Presidential declaration of the State of Emergency on Food Security in Nigeria, the realities of food security in the country based on the results of the Cadre Harmonise food security analysis, the FAO’s Hand in Hand Initiative, the new FAO Nigeria Country Program Framework (CPF) 2023-2027, and the upcoming World Food Day commemoration in October.
Also present at the meeting were Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Sabi Abdullahi; Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ernest Umakikhe; and some Directors and heads of department.
