After a thorough review of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government push to address food insecurity, a professor of Aquaculture nutrition, Prof. Ademola Aderolu, has disclosed that efforts by the government may not quickly yield desired results considering the disconnect between the academia, industry, and tiers of government across the country.
Aderolu, who described the academia as the Gown and the other stakeholders including the government as the Town, noted that the lack of synergy among the major stakeholders in the country’s agricultural chain has aided food insecurity.
He stated that with strong cooperation, the country would not be having challenges in feeding its people irrespective of the projections for the population explosion globally.
The Don argued that the disconnect between the Town and Gown has affected the ability to change the country from food importers to major food exporting routes as well as contributing to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Aderolu explained that Nigerians expected the Federal Government to make policies that drive the sector while the academia furnishes the government with authentic evidence through research, to aid decisions on policy formulation and program designs.
Due to a lack of synergy, he said, each stakeholder operates in isolation, with the government policies not addressing needs while the researches made from the varsities now gather dust on many shelves or in journals without fulfilling its desired purpose.
He stated this during his inaugural lecture which was the 24th in the 2023/2024 academic session of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Yaba, an event attended by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, and others.
While delivering the lecture titled: ‘Food-Feed struggle, the nutritionist as an umpire, the Don expressed concerns over the country’s rapid population growth as well as its implications on obtainable dietary habits and farming practices across the country.
According to him, no fewer than 821 million people currently face hunger globally and this indicates that there is an urgent need to embrace measures to address food insecurity in Nigeria.
He noted that this challenge is further being made worse considering the spate of kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes as well as others that have continued to threaten food security in the country.
“There is a great disconnect between us in academia and the industries. Do they have researchers? Do the researchers have funds? They don’t put money here for us to do research. And that is why most of our researchers say we are doing this much but we are not seeing it. When I use my money to sponsor research, and no one recognizes me or pays for it. I will just keep it for publication to get a promotion as a lecturer.
“But if the government comes to the industry and says, I am giving you all mandates that if you can get us to produce fish feed for a particular price, I will give you such an amount outside your salary. Watch us and let us see if you will get results or not”.
He stated that aside from this, other factors required to end food insecurity across the country were available but not well coordinated to yield the desired result.
“What you need for food security is Good quality land, experts in it, and then a market to sell it. Tell me which one we don’t have in Nigeria. For instance in fish, presently, our coastal areas have just been expanded again. We now have a coastal area that is five times the size of Lagos. That is the size of our coastal area now that can grow enough fish.
“For example, the amount of fish needed for consumption is about 3.3 million metric tons, and we only have 1.3 million. The remaining 2 million, we import. And this should not be.
“An average graduate, how much is he being paid? Especially a graduate of the fishery, what we pay is less than N50,000. If you increase this amount to about N80,000, they will be willing to work more. Yes, it is 30 percent more but can you compare it to the margin of dollars we spend to import fish annually?
“So, the govt. should recalibrate, pay people more, increase their working time, and increase the inefficiency, we will get more fish because we are blessed with good water, sufficient in quality and we have experts. But our experts are not encouraged”.
The Don stressed that when the production is done within the country, there would be sufficient feed in the right quantity as well as quality and pocket-friendly for Nigerians.
He recommended that the government could adopt the Benin Republic strategy which has assisted the country in reducing food importation.
“Why do you think the Benin Republic is making it? Their president is farmer-friendly because he is a farmer. Before the production for the year, the government will tell you we are buying your product from you at so and so price.
“So as a farmer, you know the cost of your product and the margin. I believe with that the farmers will be happy to engage in their practice”.
Ogundipe, while acknowledging the extent of research done by the researcher at the lecture, stated that Aderolu has done thorough justice to the discussion.
She noted that the solutions proffered by the lecturer would benefit both humanity and academics as they strive to ensure food security in the country.
