Christian Council of Nigeria(CCN), on Thursday lamented over the reports that 2.5 million Nigerian children are suffering from acute malnutrition, saying such development is unacceptable since the country is not in a war situation.
The group, which was deeply involved in food security advocacy, urged the federal and state governments to devise strong agriculture templates that would boost food production in the country and bail the citizens out of hunger.
The CCN spoke when its delegation paid a ‘Food Security’ advocacy visit on Governor Ayodele Fayose in Ado Ekiti.
A text signed by CCN’s General Secretary, Yusuf Wushishi and National Coordinator, Ecumenical Food Security and Peace Building Programme, Mrs Celine Osukwu and addressed to the governor, said poverty is gradually taking toll on every family and that only food production could bail the victims out of the quagmire.
The text presented by Rev. Olu Ajayi added that time has come for Nigerians to be fully involved in food production so that its much touted advocacy that ‘Nigerians should eat food produced in Nigeria and for Nigerians to grow what the locals can consume’ could be realized.
The body said “it is not a thing of joy and pride to any Nigerian to see millions of people going to bed with empty stomach”, noting that Ekiti, being a predominantly agrarian society must establish more farm settlements to employ redundant youths and encourage commercial farming in the state.
“Other areas where government should intervene include subsidization of farm implements , it should look into importation of animal feeds to curtail adulteration, investing in the soil and supporting agro-ecological schemes, transportation of food items to reduce cost , tackling of climate change, monitoring of foreign foods and promotion of farming.”
Share this
