South West now the most food insecured zone in Nigeria -Expert

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By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
The Director, Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Professor Akinwumi Omotayo has declared that the South West “is increasingly becoming the most food insecure” zone in the country,
Professor Omotayo said this in Ibadan while speaking at the 29th South West Zonal Workshop on Research-Extension-Farmers Input Linkage System (REFILS) of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan.
Professor Omotayo in his lecture tagged “Repositioning Agricultural Extension for Sustainable Food Security in Nigeria” lamented the South West’s continued over dependence on imported food items and food from other regions of the country.
For example, the IFSERAR Director, who said a comprehensive analysis of the state of food insecurity and dependency in South Western Nigeria “portrays an extremely gloomy picture”, added “that South West dependency level of Beef on the North presently is 99.9 per cent; Onion 99 per cent; Cowpea 99 per cent; Soybean 90 per cent; Tomato 75 per cent; Pepper 70 per cent; Yam 60 per cent; and Maize 80 per cent; among others”.
While emphasizing that “consequently, the South West is increasingly becoming more vulnerable to food insecurity than other parts of Nigeria,” he said, “in the South Western part of Nigeria in particular, indigenous farmers are gradually disappearing, food production is declining rapidly, those once classified as migrant labourers are taking over farms and becoming landlords, wetlands are being taken over and farmed for huge profits by migrants particularly from Northern Nigeria”.
“Young people are becoming increasingly apathetic and demonstrating complete lack of interest in farming. The South Western part of Nigeria continues to depend increasingly on imported food items and food from other regions of Nigeria.  Consequently, the South West is increasingly becoming more vulnerable to food insecurity than other parts of Nigeria.”
Speaking further, Professor Omotayo noted that in the South West, “forests are being converted to non-food production systems, water resources are becoming scarcer, and climate change plus shrinking biodiversity are threatening the viability of farming communities” and that “not much consideration has been given to how to safeguard biodiversity for food and agriculture for future generations as well as maintain a broad gene pool which ensures ecosystems resilience”.
Director of IAR&T, Professor James Adediran in his remark advocated for increased funding for research activities in the on-going efforts to boost agricultural extension.

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