Food insecurity is the lack of availability of safe, nutritious, healthy, and sufficient food to people at all times. Currently the world is living in hunger but the rate differs from countries to countries. As the world population increases the more the demand for food also increases but the resources available is not enough to cater for all hence, there is a continuously existing case of lack of food.
Currently, Nigeria as a developing country experiences food insecurity. Although individual efforts are steadily being put in place, full control and management of food insecurity at all levels is yet to be achieved.
This is due to a number of contributing factor and atop is the persistent poverty level in the country. Poverty affects all actors in the food value chain by basically impeding their purchasing power. It affects the farmer by inhibiting from the capacity to acquire improved varieties of inputs that can increase his farm yield. The poor processor is unable to acquire pieces of machinery that will speed up processing and improve his production.
The consumer also lacks the purchasing power to buy food products for consumption. Poverty and rapid increase in human population has contributed a lot to consumer’s access to food. The amount of food produced is unable to circulate and be evenly distributed because of the rapid growth of the human population which increases the demand for food and threatens the availability of food.
A second major factor is the level of involvement of the government in food production processes. As much as the news portray that the government is interested in agricultural activities, there is a need for increased involvement in cooperative schemes that farmers directly have access to. It is necessary that actions be taken as to the rate of interest on funds provided for farmers and it is also very crucial that food standards and regulations are made effective to ascertain the quality and quantity of food that reaches the consumers. This is because food insecurity is not just about the unavailability of food, it is also about the nutritional deficiencies that accompany the little available food.
Next is the effect of climate changes on food production. Climate change which is the long term change or shift in the average temperature and precipitation rates over an extended period of time. Climate change results into rising sea levels in some places and the effect includes flooding and migration which hinders food production. It has also led to droughts which has caused the burning down of plantations in some areas of the world.
Water sources are drying up, plantations are dying and all these are threatening our availability and access to food.
How then can this food insecurity problem be solved?
Based on science and research, a number of ways have been identified to promote food insecurity. One of these is smart farming which is the application of technology to agricultural practices. The use of soilless farming methods like aquaponics, hydroponics, greenhouse farming and aeroponics enhances food production as it is not dependent on weather or climatic conditions. It produces more times than farming on land thereby leading to an increase in production.
The use of other technologies like drones would also help to cover the view on large areas of farm plantation and know the requirements of the crops to aid successful productions.
Lastly, the government should provide or set up aids programmes for the financially constrained people in order to provide them with resources to acquire farm inputs. The government should also assist the constrained consumers by availing them the opportunity to acquire the food being produced.