GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA

March 2015. Vol 1, No 1:
NIGERIASOCIETY OF GEOGRAPHERSONLINE
In Collaboration with BroadMind Initiative (BMI)
http//:www.facebook/nigeriasocietyofgeographers.com
Page 1 of 42
GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA
Obonyilo Paul Aaron, (B.Sc. Geography).
CorporateInventory Team, Dpt. of Contracting andProcurement, ShellPetroleum Development. Company, Eastern
Division PortHarcourt, Nigeria.
E-mail: paulaaron31@yahoo.com bmi4ever@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract
Food crisis and food scarcityis a globalphenomenonwhich affects almost every nook and cranny of human
world of today. The resultant by-product of food crisis is hunger and starvation which in turn has claimed
thousands of lives in recent times.This paper is prepared to look into the basic food requirement needed by
humans to sustain life, the distribution and availability of these food substances to the teeming world
population,the factors responsible for food shortage and possible recommendations to curtail the menace.
The paper also looks at Africa and Nigeria specifically as a nationsufferingfrom the effects of the food crisis
and possible recommendations to remedy the situation. The work is divided into five sections; the first
sectionis the introductionwhich elaborates the concept of food itself,the second sectionlooks at the pattern
of food crisis in the world,its causes and effects on the population,the third sectionis based onfood crisis in
Nigeria, the fourthsectionpresents the possible recommendations withwhich we can alleviate the effects and
the final section is the bibliography.This work identifies the plight of Africans and how our right to standard
balance diet of three square meals on daily basis can be attended to. All references are duly acknowledged.
Introduction
Food is anything we eat to nourish our body and to sustain our life, they
consist of those plant and animal nutrient supplement and complement which
constitute a basic daily requirement for the continuous sustenanceof life. Food
exists in different kinds and forms and is obtained from diverse resources
mostly from plant and animal species; different delicacies can be prepared
from the same type of food substance e.g. yam can be prepared as yam

Page 2 of 42
porridge or as pounded yam or as yam flour meal, cassava can be prepared as
garri, cassava flour meal, wet starch meal, cassava bread, beans can be
prepared as portage beans, beans cake, moimoi, beans soup, baked beans etc.
A particular delicacy of food depends on the culture of the people preparing
the food. Food could either be in liquid form like beverages and food drinks or
in semi solid and solid forms, food could also be eaten raw like fruits and
vegetables or cooked before eaten. Food substances have also being
converted into drugs and medicines which are consumed as food supplements.
Different kinds of food are being prepared and packaged in one country or
region and exported to an entirely different location which also serves as a
source of foreign income to the exporting country or region.
The importance of food in the development and sustenance of man cannot be
over emphasised for it has been proved beyond all reasonable doubt that man
cannot survive a long period of time without food. The Food and Agricultural
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has stated that food is the basic
prerequisite for the absolute sustenance of life. Any good food that is meant
for consumption by humans must be a balance diet and must be prepared
under a hygienic condition or else it cannot be classified as sustainable. A
balance diet is a food that contains all the basic essential mineral nutrients

Page 3 of 42
such as vitamins, calcium, carbohydrates, proteins phosphorus, water, fats and
acids etc. A balance diet enhances good health of mind and body of an
individual, thus promoting long life and sustainable development. A natural
man can barely surviveseven days without food because food is the substance
from which we derive strength, energy and nourishment to keep up with our
daily life activities, thus the sole importance placed on food security by the
world governments. In the ancient times, people were left with little choices as
to what kind of food to eat due to the dominance and domestication of very
few varieties of food substances but in contemporary times, the range of food
substances have widely increase as a result of technological advancement and
improvement in the study of genetics which has brought about the knowledge
of cross breeding and seedling improvement and also the invention of
fertilizers has greatly improve the producing capacity of the soils.
WORLD FOOD PRODUCTION:
Many countries of the world are self sustained in terms of food production, yet
there are others that cannot produce their own food therefore they solely
depends on the self sustained countries for food supply. Countries which are
situated around the arid regions where there is usually low amount of per annum
rain fall usually have low food production but some like Egypt and Morocco in

Page 4 of 42
the Saharan axis have greatly utilized the wide potentials of the great Nile River
to obtain a remarkable food production level through irrigation agriculture right
from ancient days. Countries like England, Scotland Thailand and America have
employed the advent of technological invention and advancement to produce
machineries and equipments which have greatly boost agricultural productivity
and large scale food production and the scientific invention of insecticides,
pesticides and herbicides have also helped in preserving the food stuffs in the
field and in the stores. Statistics has shown the trend in world food production
and distribution, agricultural practices in different areas of the world has enable
the production of food while industrial practices has enable the processing,
preservation and packaging of food for future purposes. Despite the exceeding
improvement in agricultural productivity, the shortage of food the world over
still persists. Several nations of the world are still lingering in abject food
shortage to the tune of several people dying of hunger and starvation.
Global food crisis:
Within the years 2007–2008 food prices raised dramatically worldwide, creating
a global food crisis and causing political and economic instability and social
unrest in bothdeveloping and developed
nations.

Page 5 of 42
Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the
subject of discussions. Initial causes of the late 2006 price rises included
unseasonable droughts in grain producing nations and rising oil prices. Oil
prices further heightened the costs of fertilizers, food transport, and industrial
agriculture. Other causes of the food crisis may be the increasing use of biofuels
in developed countries, and an increasing demand for a more varied diet, meat
in particular, across the expanding middle-class populations of Asia. These
factors, coupled with falling world food stockpiles have all contributed to the
dramatic worldwide rise in food prices. Long-term causes of the food crisis
remain a topic of debate. These may include structural changes in trade and
agricultural production, agricultural price supports and subsidies in developed
nations, diversions of food commodities to high input foods and fuel,
commodity market speculation, and climate change.
Between early 2006 and 2008, the average world price for rice rose by 217%,
wheat by 136%, maize by 125% and soybeans by 107%. In late April 2008, rice
prices hit 24 cents a pound, twice the price that it was seven months earlier.
Various factors contributed to the rising food prices. Analysts attributed the
food price rises to a perfect storm of poor harvests in various parts of the world,
increasing biofuel usage, lower food reserves, the US Federal Reserve
decreasing interest rates so that money is no longer a means to preserve wealth

Page 6 of 42
over the long term, as a result people invest in food commodities which causes
an increase in demand and therefore price, growing consumer demand in Asia,
oil price rises, and changes in the world economy. Agricultural subsidies in
developed nations are another long-term factor contributing to high global food
prices.
When the global financial and economic crisis hit, a large number of
developing countries were still reeling from the economic and social impacts of
the earlier global food crisis. In 2008, the cereal price index reached a peak 2.8
times higher than in 2000; as of July 2010, it remained 1.9 times higher than in
2000, (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010a; 2010b).
Prior to the global financial crisis, concerns about the spikes in food and energy
prices were at the centre of public and media attention. Global leaders and
policy makers were concerned about the potential welfare impacts of the sharp
increases in the prices of food commodities, such as rice, corn (maize), wheat
and soybeans, as well as global food security. There was concern about how
higher food prices were adversely affecting low-income consumers and efforts
to reduce poverty, as well as the political and social stability of poor countries
and food-importing countries. These concerns have subsequently heightened
with the social tensions, unrest and food riots that have broken out in several
countries.

Page 7 of 42
However, attention to the fragile and unsustainable global food security
situation was pushed off the centre stage of international concerns and replaced
by the global financial and economic crisis and the later push towards budget
cuts and fiscal austerity in most major industrialized countries. Unfortunately,
the food crisis is still far from over as prices have been rising once again since
2009 (Johnston and Bargawi, 2010). The poor remain especially vulnerable, as the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned repeatedly. The FAO’s
world food-price index had risen to a record high at the time of writing in early
2014, topping the previous all-time high set in June 2008. As a result, rising
food prices have driven an estimated 44 million people into poverty (World Bank,
2014). Furthermore, the food riots in Mozambique in September 2010 and recent
protests in several North African countries seem to reflect the continued impacts
of high food prices on the poor and other vulnerable groups.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), food security is achieved when ‘‘all people at all times, have physical,
social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. Such
conditions are not available for 1/6 of the world’s population the great majority
of who live in dry land regions. This situation is due to internal factors that
characterize these areas, as well as worsening factors at various levels.

Page 8 of 42
According to data currently available, in 2007 countries included in the
UNCCD regional implementation annexes accounted for more than 93 per cent
of the world’s undernourished people. Africa presented the highest prevalence
rate, with almost 23 per cent of the population of that continent considered to be
undernourished. Asia had 2/3 of the overall undernourished population with 577
million undernourished people. The 2nd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security
and Climate Change - "Hunger for Action" - held in Ha Noï, Viet Nam, from 3 to 7 September 2012.
Beginning in 2006, international prices for basic agricultural commodities rose
to levels not experienced in nearly three decades (see figure 1). Corn prices
began rising in the third quarter of 2006 and soared by some 70 per cent within
months. Wheat and soybean prices also rose to record levels during this time.
Cooking oil—an essential foodstuff in many poor countries—is mainly
produced from soybeans and other plant sources; as a result the price of this
item shot upward as well. Rice prices had also more than doubled in the year
ending in the first quarter of 2008 (Bradsher, 2008). In many countries, the prices
of most food staples remain volatile and are still at least 50 per cent above the
average for the period 2000-2004. For example, in Lahore, Pakistan, wheat
prices rose by 24 per cent in the year prior to February 2010 while the maize
price in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, went up by 36 per cent between October
2009 and February 2010. The spike was even worse in Burundi; in Bujumbura,
the price of beans went up by 58 per cent during the same period (see table 1).

Page 9 of 42
The food crisis has not abated as most food prices are rising again and have
exceeded the peaks recorded in 2008. The Food and Agriculture Organization
food-price index rose to a record high in February 2011, topping the previous
all-time high set in June 2008, following unexpected shortfalls in major cereals
owing to bad weather in 2010.
Fig. 1: Graph of food price rises from 1999 – 2007. Source: FAO
Table 1: Countries experiencing largest increases in the prices of the main food staples: Source:
World Bank (2011).
Price increase, annual average up
to year ending February 2010
Price increase, June 2010–
December 2010
Location Commodity Percentage
increase
Location Commodity Percentage
increase
Sudan
(Khartoum)
Sorghum 39.8 Brazil
(SãoPaulo)
Maize 56.0
Pakistan
(Lahore)
Wheat 23.9 Kyrgyzstan
(Bishkek)
Wheat 54.0
Tanzania(Dar Maize 21.2 Burundi(Bujumbura) Beans 48.0

Page 10 of 42
es Salaam)
Chad
(Abeche)
Sorghum 20.8 Viet Nam
(Dong Thap)
Rice 46.0
Mali
(Bamako)
Millet 17.0 Bangladesh Wheat 45.0
Kenya
(Nairobi)
Maize 16.3 Cameroon
(Yaoundé)
Beans 43.0
India
(Mumbai)
India
(Mumbai)
13.6 Burundi
(Bujumbura)
Rice 41.0
CAUSES AND IMPACT OF GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Causes ofFoodCrisis
At the beginning of 2007 and early 2008, the prices of some of the most basic
international food commodities increased dramatically on international markets.
The international market price of wheat doubled from February 2007 to
February 2008 hitting a record high of over US$10 a bushel. Rice prices also
reached ten year high. In some nations, milk and meat prices more than
doubled, while soy (which hit a 34 year high price in December 2007) and
maize prices have increased dramatically. The food crisis is as a result of a
complex interplay of several factors. Some of these factors have recently
emerged, such as excessive speculation in agricultural commodity futures
markets, drought-induced crop failures in major grain- and cereal-producing
regions and the surge in biofuel production in Europe and the United States.

Page 11 of 42
Other causes are longer-term; including reduced national and international
investments in developing-countries agriculture, distortions in the international
trading system and changing consumption patterns, conflict and mass migration.
All these factors have adversely affected agricultural production. However,
some factors played much larger roles than others in the 2007-2008 global food
price crisis as well as the more recent one.
Speculation in commodity futures
One key factor that distinguishes the spikes in food prices during the period
2007- 2008 from that of previous price increases is the role played by large
banks, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds in commodity futures markets
(Domanski and Heath, 2007; Ghosh, 2010; Mittal, 2009). Investors have moved
into futures markets following the deregulation of the United States
commodities futures markets in the 1990s (Chilton, 2008; Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, 2008). The UN Special Reporter on
Food, Olivier De Schutter, has linked the increases in price and the volatility of
food commodity prices to the emergence of a “speculative bubble” in the early
years of the twenty-first century. He notes: “Beginning in 2001, food
commodities derivatives markets and commodities indexes began to see an
influx of non-traditional investors, such as pension funds, hedge funds,
sovereign wealth funds, and large banks. This was simply because other

Page 12 of 42
markets dried up one by one. The dotcoms vanished at the end of 2001, the
stock market soon after and the US housing market in August 2007. As each
bubble burst, these large institutional investors moved into other markets, each
traditionally considered more stable than the last. Strong similarities can be seen
between the price behaviour of food commodities and other refuge values, such
as gold” (De Schutter, 2010). As the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States
deepened and spread to international finance from mid-2007, investors moved
from uncertain financial markets to mineral and food markets, seeking security
in real assets, while contributing to and taking advantage of the “commodities
super cycle”. Such new investors purchased large or many futures and options
contracts, transforming the role of commodity futures markets. By July 2008,
$317 billion was invested in commodities index funds, led by Goldman Sachs
and American Insurance Group (AIG). These actions pushed up agricultural and
mineral (including energy) commodities. Drawing on Lehman Brothers
research, US Congressman Bart Stupak testified to the House Agriculture
Committee that “since 2003, commodity index speculation has increased 1,900
per cent from an estimated $13 billion to $260 billion” in March 2008. Many
higher futures prices for major crops, such as wheat, rice, corn and soybeans, in
turn, raised current food prices, which in turn raised futures and options prices,
thus contributing to a food price bubble (Stupak, 2008). Commodity Futures
Trading Commission Chairman, Gary Gensler, told the US Senate in 2009, “I

Page 13 of 42
believe that increased speculation in energy and agricultural products has hurt
farmers and consumers”. (Food and Water Watch (2009). See also, Baffes and Haniotis,
2010; Robles, Torero and Braun, 2009; United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development, 2009).
Higher energy prices and demand for biofuels:
The availability of cheap oil has been a major factor in the rise of agricultural
productivity in the last several decades. However, the era of cheap oil came to
an abrupt end in the recent past as oil prices trebled between January 2007 and
July 2008, exceeding $147 a barrel. Consequently, the increase in oil prices also
affected the production, processing and distribution of agricultural commodities,
and hence food prices. The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2009-2018 report
warned that episodes of price increases and extreme price volatility, similar to
2008, cannot be ruled out in the coming years and the prices of some
commodities as well as biofuels have become increasingly linked to oil and
energy costs (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009). As the search for cheaper
energy sources continues, the demand for biofuels has increased. A major
source of the growth in demand for food crops is for the production of
bioethanol and biodiesel. Developed countries annually provide $13 billion in
subsidies and protection to encourage biofuels production, which have diverted

Page 14 of 42
120 million tons of cereals away from human consumption for conversion to
fuel. In the United States alone, 119 million out of 416 million tons of grain
produced in 2009 went to ethanol distilleries. The grain would have been
enough to feed 350 million people for a year! An unpublished World Bank
report found that biofuels forced global food prices up by 75 per cent—
far more than previously estimated (Chakrabo,2010).
Fig 2: Ethanol Production in the USA from 1995 – 2007. Source FAO.
Uncontrolled world population growth:
Growth in food productionhas been greater than population growth and food
per personincreased during the 1961-2005 period. Although some
commentators have argued that this food crisis stems from unprecedented global
population growth, others point out that world population growth rates have
dropped dramatically since the 1980s, and grain availability has continued to
outpace population. However, if the trend continues, the world population will

Page 15 of 42
have increased four times in one hundred years between 1950 and 2050.
Aggregate food production per capita has risen from the 1960s to the 1980s but
slightly declined since, at least for cereals. World population has grown from
1.6 billion in 1900 to an estimated 6.6 billion today. In Mexico, for example,
population has grown from 13.6 million in 1900 to 107 million in 2007. Bureau
figures show that the U.S. population grew by 2.8 million between July 1, 2004,
and July 1, 2005.
The actual annual growth in the number of humans fell from its peak of 87
million per annum in the late 1980s, to a low 75 million per annum in 2002, at
which it stabilized and has started to slowly rise again to 77 million per annum
in 2007. The world's population, on its current growth trajectory, is expected to
reach nearly 9 billion by the year 2042. April
2008 analyses from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization
maintained that while food consumption of grains has gone up one percent since
2006, most of this increase has gone to developed countries.

Page 16 of 42
Fig. 3: World population projection for 1950 - 2050.
Increased demand for resource intensive food
The head of the International Food Policy Research Institute stated in 2008 that
the gradual change in diet among newly prosperous populations is the most
important factor underpinning the rise in global food prices. Where food
utilization has increased, it has largely been in processed so called "value
added" foods, sold in developing and developed nations. Total grain utilization
growth since 2006 (up three percent, over the 2000-2006 per annum average of
two percent) has been greatest in non-food usage, especially in feed and
biofuels. One kilogram of beef requires seven kilograms of feed grain. These
reports, therefore, conclude that usage in industrial, feed, and input intensive
foods, has contributed to the price increases.

Page 17 of 42
Although the vast majority of the population in Asia remains rural and poor, the
growth of the middle class in the region has been dramatic, and is projected to
continue to be so. For comparison, in 1990, the middle class grew by 9.7
percent in India and 8.6 percent in China, but by 2007 the growth rate was
nearly 30 percent and 70 percent, respectively. The corresponding increase in
affluence has also brought with it a change in lifestyle and eating habits,
particularly a demand for greater variety and more meat in the diet, leading to
greater demand for agricultural resources. This demand exacerbates dramatic
increases in commodity prices, such as oil.
Another issue is that rising affluence in India and China is reducing the `shock
absorber' of poor people who are forced to reduce their resource consumption
when food prices rise (e.g. by switching back from meat to vegetarian diet).
This has reduced price elasticity and caused a sharp rise in food prices during
times of food shortages. In the media, China is often mentioned as one of the
reasons for the increase in world food prices, but China has to a large extent
been able to meet its own demand for food. It is, however, uncertain whether
this will continue to be the case in the future.
Decreased crops from natural disasters:
Several distinct weather- and climate-related incidents have caused disruptions
in food crop production. Perhaps the most influential is the extended drought in

Page 18 of 42
Australia, in particular the fertile Murray-Darling Basin, which produces large
amounts of wheat and rice. The drought has caused the annual rice harvest to
fall by as much as 98% from pre-drought levels. Australia is historically the
second-largest exporter of wheat after the United States, producing up to 25
million tons in a good year, the vast majority for export. However, the 2006
harvest was 9.8 million. Other events that have negatively affected food prices
include the 2006 heat wave in California's San Joaquin Valley, which killed
large numbers of farm animals, and unseasonable 2008 rains in Kerala, India,
which destroyed swathes of grain. Scientists have stated that several of these
incidents are consistent with the predicted effects of climate change.
The impact of Cyclone Nargis on Burma in May 2008 caused a spike in the
price of rice. Burma has historically been a rice exporter, though yields have
fallen as government price controls have reduced incentives for farmers. The
storm surge inundated rice paddies up to 30 miles (48 km) inland in the
Irrawaddy Delta, raising concern that the salt could make the fields infertile.
The FAO had previously estimated that Burma would export up to 600,000 tons
of rice in 2008, but concerns were raised in the cyclone's aftermath that Burma
may be forced to import rice for the first time, putting further upward pressure
on global rice prices.

Page 19 of 42
Stem rust reappeared in 1998 in Uganda and possibly earlier in Kenya with the
particularly virulent UG99 fungus. Unlike other rusts, which only partially
affect crop yields, UG99 can bring 100% crop loss. Up to 80% yield losses were
recently recorded in Kenya. As of 2005 stem rust was still believed to be
"largely under control worldwide except in Eastern Africa". But by January
2007 an even more virulent strain had gone across the Red Sea into Yemen.
FAO first reported on 5 March 2008 that UG99 had now spread to major wheat-
growing areas in Iran. These countries in North Africa and Middle East
consume over 150% of their own wheat production; the failure of this staple
crop thus adds a major burden on them. The disease is now expected to spread
over China and the Far-East. The strong international collaboration network of
research and development that spread disease-resistant strains some 40 years
ago and started the Green Revolution, was since slowly starved of research
funds because of its own success and is now too atrophied to swiftly react to the
new threat.
Soil and productivity losses:
Large areas of croplands are lost year after year, due mainly to soil erosion,
water depletion, deforestation, desertification, flood and urbanization. 60,000 sq
km/year of land becomes so severely degraded that it loses its productive
capacity and becomes wasteland, and even more are affected to a lesser extent,

Page 20 of 42
adding to the crop supply problem. Additionally, agricultural production is also
lost due to water depletion. Northern China in particular has depleted much of
its non-renewable aquifers, which now has negative impact on its crop
production. Urbanization is another, smaller, difficult to estimate cause of
annual cropland reduction.
Rising levels of ozone:
Another possible environmental factor in the food price crisis is ever increasing
background levels of ozone in the atmosphere. Plants have been shown to have
a high sensitivity to ozone levels, and lower yields of important food crops,
such as wheat and soybeans, may have been a result of ozone levels. Ozone
levels in the Yangtze Delta were studied for their effect on oilseed grape, a
member of the cabbage family that produces one-third of the vegetable oil used
in China. Plants grown in chambers that controlled ozone levels exhibited a 10-
20 percent reduction in size and weight when exposed to elevated ozone.
Production of seeds and oil was also reduced.
Distorted global rice market:
Japan is forced to import more than 767,000 tons of rice annually from the
United States, Thailand, and other countries due to WTO rules. This is despite
the fact that Japan produces over 100% of domestic rice consumption needs
with 11 million tonnes produced in 2005 while 8.7 million tonnes were

Page 21 of 42
consumed in 2003-2004 period. Japan is not allowed to re-export this rice to
other countries without approval. This rice is generally left to rot and then used
for animal feed. Under pressure, the United States and Japan are poised to strike
a deal to remove such restrictions. It is expected 1.5 million tonnes of high-
grade American rice will enter the market soon.
Impact of trade liberalization:
While developed countries pressured the developing world to abolish
agricultural subsidies in the interest of trade liberalization, rich countries largely
kept subsidies in place for their own farmers. In recent years United States
government subsidies have been added which pushed production toward biofuel
rather than food.
According to some theorists, such as Martin Khor of the Third World Network,
many developing nations have gone from being food independent to being net
food importing economies since the 1970s and 1980s International Monetary
Fund free market economics directives to debtor nations and later the World
Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture. In opening developing
countries to developed world food imports which continue to be subsidized by
Western governments, developing nations have become dependent upon food
imports which are cheaper than those which can be produced by local
smallholders’ agriculture, even in the poorest regions of the world.

Page 22 of 42
Financial speculation:
Destabilizing influences, including indiscriminate lending and real estate
speculation, led to a crisis in January 2008, and eroded investment in food
commodities. The United States, in particular, has been facing an economic
crisis which is likely to lead to recession.
Financial speculation in commodity futures following the collapse of the
financial derivatives markets has contributed to the crisis due to a "commodities
super-cycle." Financial speculators seeking quick returns have removed trillions
of dollars from equities and mortgage bonds, some of which has been invested
into food and raw materials. That American commodities speculation could
have a worldwide impact on food prices is reflected in the globalization of food
production. It represents the concentration of wealth throughout the world
which Frances Moore Lappé equates to a weakening in fundamental democracy.
In a recent article for The Nation, she suggests that there is no food shortage but
that "as long as food is merely a commodity in societies that don't protect
people's right to participate in the market, and as long as farming is left
vulnerable to consolidated power off the farm, many will go hungry, farmers
among them - no matter how big the harvests.

Page 23 of 42
Reduction in world food stockpiles:
Previously nations tended to keep more sizable food stockpiles, but more
recently, due to the pace at which food could be grown and the ease with which
it could be imported, less emphasis was placed on keeping high stockpiles. For
example, in February 2008 wheat stockpiles hit a 60-year low in the United
States. (Wikipedia article "2007-2008 World Food Price crisis).
Armed conflicts and mass migration:
In 2011 the Horn of Africa suffered one of the worst food crises in recent years,
affecting over 12 million people. Severe drought was compounded byconflict
in Somalia and widespread displacement across the region. A key message to
emerge was that more could have been done in responseto early warnings of
drought and likely food shortages in order to limit the effects of the crisis. Had
funders given preventively – rather than responding after the full extent of the
crisis had hit – much of the devastation could have been avoided. The eventual
humanitarian responsecostmillions of dollars more than it would have if early
preventive measures had been put in place. More importantly, delays in funding
needlessly costthe lives and livelihoods of many thousands of people that could
otherwise have been saved.

Page 24 of 42
Picture; Somali refugees in Kenya-- By David Hecht for the Washington Post.
Security restrictions on aid delivery in Somalia:
In July 2011 the UN identified a number of key operational constraints that
were severely inhibiting relief efforts. Of particular note was the limited
humanitarian access to affected areas of Somalia due to ongoing insecurity and
restrictions imposed by armed groups. In areas of Somalia controlled by
al-Shabab the group had put in place aid bans on several agencies, preventing
food from entering some of the worst struck areas of famine.
In south-central Somalia armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, extremism and
piracy caused further problems in terms of aid delivery and relief efforts.
The refugee crisis:
A quarter of Somalia’s population was displaced due to the war, and by July
2011 humanitarian organizations in Ethiopia and Kenya were struggling to cope
with the vast influx of refugees. An average of 1,400 Somalis sought refuge at

Page 25 of 42
Kenya’s Dadaab complex every day, with the camp hosting over four times its
intended capacity of 90,000.
The extraordinarily high numbers of refugees arriving in camps caused an
entirely new set of problems. Furthermore, due to a lack of space in the main
refugee camp some 65,000 people had settled on the outskirts where access to
basic services and food supply was minimal. In places like Syria, Central
African Republic and Mali, numerous people die every day of hunger and
starvation as a result of the ongoing armed conflict in those regions. People
could not remain in their locality to practice agriculture; they need to migrate in
mass to a safe haven where they will be saved from the dangers of the conflicts
in their areas. The mass migration of refugees from Syria to Lebanon for
instance has resulted in adverse food shortage for both Syrians and Lebanese
alike.
FoodCrisis in Nigeria:
Importation and Consumption of Foodin Nigeria:
Nigeria has been a major consumer and importer of rice and tomato in Africa.
Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
recently revealed that the country spends over N356 billion on yearly
importation of rice, out of which about N1 billion is used per day.

Page 26 of 42
Former Nigerian Agric Minister, Akinwumi Adesina.
The country today is a net importer of rice, which had also adversely affected
local production tantamount to the cabal involved in rice importation.
Akinwumi also stated in an interview with a media organisation that, “Nigeria,
as I said, is running a prodigal consumption pattern in the sense that we are
spending billions of Naira everyday importing rice from Thailand and India
when we can grow that rice here. “If you go to Sokoto or to Kebbi, Kano,
Katsina, Niger, Kogi, Ofada rice in Ogun State, down to Abakaliki and to the
Niger-Delta, we have up-land rice, low-land rice, Fadama rice, all types of rice
that can be grown here, yet we are buying rice.”
Challenges in Nigeria’s rice production:
Some of the issues include high input costs like cost of credit, and imported
equipment, agrochemicals due to taxes (legal and illegal), tariffs and duties.
There is also the problem of policy instability (ban, unban, tariffs) that market
decision-making and planning highly uncertain and put investments at great
risk. Other unattractive conditions include low technology base

Page 27 of 42
(mechanization), decaying infrastructure, high interest rates, weak institutions
(such as poorly-funded research institutes, public extension system, and seeds
certification), and corruption-ridden fertilizer distribution system and low public
sector investments in agriculture. The rice farmers have been frustrated with the
scarcity and high input costs. This has led to farmers not using inputs such as
fertilizers and other agrochemicals and those who use them use sub – optimal
proportions of the inputs resulting in low and poor quality yields. Rice Farmers
Association of Nigeria, RIFAN, has the objectives of supporting their members
on production, processing and marketing of rice as well as the possibility of
supplying inputs at low prices, but these objectives have not seen the light of the
day. Access to markets for patronage is at the low side, capacity underutilization
of existing small-scale mills. Obsolete and inefficient processing technology
have remained a serious challenge in rice production, therefore no value is
added to the rice as it has a kind of smell and is unappealing. The rice contains
pebbles and other hard objects. Poor road network has made it difficult for the
conveyance of paddy to the mills or markets. All these combine with on-farm
constraints to make rice production in Nigeria uncompetitive.
Government’s efforts to stop rice importation:
There has been stupendous rice consumption in Nigeria since the 1970s and
creating a substantial surge in rice imports since then, making rice a political

Page 28 of 42
commodity in the country. On one side rice became a critical component of the
Nigerian diet and the other side, a major consumer of the country’s foreign
exchange. The federal government in 1985 imposed a ban on rice imports in
order to facilitate and increase local production of the precious grain and to
meet the high demand for the product. However, in 1995 the import ban was
lifted as the local supplies, although showing improvement, could not meet the
demand for the commodity. Therefore lifting of the ban resulted in incessant
importations, and not being affected by duty hikes by the government. Nigeria
has continued to be an attractive market as compared to other West African
markets as it imports parboiled rice which is of relatively higher value unlike
other regional countries. It is indeed lamentable for a country such as Nigeria
with huge human and natural resources (land and water), including capital has
continued to bear the burden of unbearable pain of rice importation for many
decades following huge capital flight and increasing unemployment. The
industry has turned out to be a shadow of itself as some government officials
had virtually grounded the production of rice in the country and had connived
with some international businessmen who have continued to milk away the
resources that would have been used to develop and boost rice production.
The current spate of rice importation gives serious concernas the nation
celebrates 53 rd anniversary of its independence.

Page 29 of 42
It is disheartening to see rice importers from India, like the owners of Stallion
Group, the Vasawani Brothers, who won the coveted national award of
Thailand, as ‘Thailand Best Friend’ in 2009, which was handed over by the
Prime Minister, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva to the Group’s Managing Director, Mr.
Mahesh Vaswani, as a mark of recognition for exporting Thai rice to Nigeria
and other import-dependent African countries.
The over 40-year-old Stallion Group, were amongst the eminent international
rice traders, and was instrumental in promoting Thailand rice through their
extensive sales and distribution infrastructure penetrating into African markets.
Past administrations had failed to sustain rice productionin the country
following the poorimplementation of different agricultural policies such as
Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, Schoolto Farm, and others.
(http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/rice-consumption-importation-nigeria-solution-sight).
Ordeal of rice farmers:
The painful part is rice farmers have been in crisis since the late 1970’s till date
as the policies of government do not protect them from the hostile competition
they have been facing from rice importing merchants.
A report has it that rice farmers in Lagos were passing through hard times as
narrated by President, Badagry Rice Farmers Association, Ibrahim Iroko, who

Page 30 of 42
said after harvesting and processing the rice, everything produced is bought off
immediately by bulk buyers. Iroko who spoke on behalf of all other farmers at
the rice farm explains the business.
He says, “We plant different varieties of rice such as Ofada, Nerica 8 and Faro
44. The rice we produceis more nutritious than the imported ones where most
of the nutrients have been washed off during processing.
“Oncewe harvest and process, peoplebuy off immediately. The demand is high
even for local rice but the quantity we are able to produceis not much.
The Lagos State Government has been very helpful but we appeal to the Federal
Government to offer help to rice farmers so we can plant larger quantities by
making available tractors, harvesters, boom sprayers which is needed to spray
the farm and kill weeds at the early stage.
“With mechanisation, farming would become more attractive to youths as
opposed to this growing trend of ‘okada’ business.
“Rice farming without mechanisation is tedious and not so profitable.
For instance, when rice is planted today, the following day, the boomsprayer
has to be used to spray herbicides to prevent weeds. If done, weeds would not

Page 31 of 42
come up until about two months later by which time the rice would have fully
grown.
“We plant upland and lowland rice here in Itoga. We have about 51 varieties of
rice, but we choose Nerica 8 which matures in 72 days because the stalk is not
so strong to support the weight of birds perching on it and sucking the milk.
“We normally start planting in March, but due to climate change we would need
irrigation so that when the rain does not come when it is supposed to, we would
not lose our crops.
We are so thankful to the Lagos state government that has started constructing
irrigation facilities, so that rain or no rain, we can plant rice at least twice a year.
We have been planting only once a year.
“Another major challenge is working capital. With the exception of some, many
of the farmers have just one or two hectares under cultivation. But one farmer
can more easily manage five to 15 hectares. ‘’In one hectare of land, if there is
no delay in rain and all goes well, about 2. 5 tonnes of rice can be gotten from
one hectare that is about 50-100 bags. We use 25 or 50 kilo bags. We sell 25
kilo at N3, 500 and 50 kilo for N7, 000. So about N350, 000 can be realised as
gross profit on one hectare but so many factors can reduce the profit on that.

Page 32 of 42
“Before the rice is harvested, the farm has to be weeded so as not to harvest
weeds with it. About 10 people are needed to weed one hectare and they get N1,
500 per day. It takes about five days to weed one hectare. That is about N75,
000 on weeding per hectare alone and there are many other expenses that are
incurred.
“So farmers need working capital to cover such expenses. So we keep imploring
the government to provide access to finance so as to have mass production of
food”.
This has been the common experience of rice farmers for many decades in this
country, which is as a result of poorpolitical will to ensure self-sufficiency in
the production, consumption and importation of rice by Nigerians.
(Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), 2012).
Nigeria is still a major food importer becauseshe has not truly developed her
agricultural potentials to the level of maximum productivity. Today, about 90
percent of Nigeria's agricultural output comes from inefficient small farms,
according to the World Bank, and most farmers have little or no access to
fertilizers, irrigation or other modern inputs. Most do not even grow enough
food to feed their own families. According to UNICEF, 65 percent of the

Page 33 of 42
country's population - roughly 91 million people - are what humanitarian
organizations call "food insecure.
The recent paste of insecurity in the country, especially in the North eastern
axis hasalso greatly contributed to the escalation of food insecurity in the
country. Most of the rural peasantfarmers have been displaced by the
insurgency into neighbouring states and even foreign landslike Niger and
Cameroon, where they are not properly settled not to talk of venturing into
sustainableagriculture. In the hinterlandsand southern axis, the recent 2013
flood, washed awaymanyfarm landsthereby rendering manypetty farmers
handicap in terms of productivity. In Nigeria both arable and livestock
agriculture is currently on the downward trend.
Fig. 5: Chart of food import in Nigeria from 2006 – 2012in million tons.

Page 34 of 42
Recommendation:
So far it has been established that indeed there is food crisis in the world which
has automatically translated to hunger and starvation for a vast percentage of
world population. I certainly am not interested in just identifying the menace
but also to give reasonable recommendations, which if adhere to will definitely
go a long way in reversing the trend of food insecurity in the world at large and
Nigeria in particular. The recommendation so far includes the following;
Consistentgovernment food development policies;
The government of individual nations should initiate policies that are
sustainable in nature, in terms of food security and distribution. Also the world
government should make more stringent laws compelling nations to be self
sufficient in terms of food production and distribution.
The United Nations should hold responsible, any government that fail to exploit
at least 60% of its agricultural production potentials. Countries that constantly
face destructive natural disasters should be adequately assisted by foreign aids
and donor agencies that can provide them with sustainable food supply.

Page 35 of 42
Implementation of recommendations and policies of international
conventions:
Important recommendations and policies derived from international convention
on food security should be implemented by world nations. The objective of the
Food Aid Convention 1999, the latest in a long series of such multilateral
cooperation instruments since 1967, is to contribute to world food security and
to improve the ability of the international community to respond to emergency
food situations and other food needs of developing countries.
Under the FAC, donor countries pledge to provide specified minimum amounts
of food aid to developing countries with the greatest needs, irrespective of
fluctuations in world food prices and supplies. FAC donors are encouraged to
improve the effectiveness and quality of food aid in support of food security,
particularly for the most vulnerable groups, and seek to improve member co-
ordination in the field of food aid. An increasing proportion of donors’
operations take the form of purchases from other developing countries or of
local purchases, mostly channelled multilaterally. At the 106th session of the
Food aid Committee members agreed not to extend the Food Aid Convention,
1999. Accordingly, this Convention expired on 30 June 2012. On 1st January
2013, a new Food Assistance Convention came into effect.

Page 36 of 42
(Food Aid Committee Secretariat: Monday 12 April, 2010.
www.foodassistanceconvention.org)
Ending World Hunger
Ending world hunger is conceptually quite simple. However, actually putting it
into practice is far from simple. First, the access to a healthy and varied diet
needs to be recognized for the basic human right that it clearly is. Governments
must commit to ending hunger among their people and they must take forceful
action to carry out this commitment. In many countries, even at this time, there
is sufficient food produced to feed the entire population at a high level of
nutrition. This is, of course, most evident in the United States, where so much
food is produced. It is nothing less than a crime that so many of the poor in the
United States are hungry, malnourished, or don’t know where their next meal
will come from (which itself takes a psychological toll) when there is actually
plenty of food.
In the short run, the emergency situation of increasingly severe hunger and
malnutrition needs to be addressed with all resources at a country’s disposal.
Although mass bulk distribution of grains or powdered milk can play a role,
countries might consider the Venezuelan innovation of setting up feeding
houses in all poorneighbourhoods. When the people believe that the

Page 37 of 42
government is really trying to help them, and they are empowered to find or
assist in a solution to their own problems, a burst of enthusiasm and
volunteerism results. For example, although the food in Venezuela’s feeding
program is supplied by the government, the meals for poorchildren, the elderly,
and the infirm are prepared in, and distributed from, peoples’ homes using
considerable amounts of volunteer labour. In addition, Venezuela has developed
a network of stores that sell basic foodstuffs at significant discounts over prices
charged in private markets.
Brazil started a program in 2003 that is aimed at alleviating the conditions of the
poorestpeople. Approximately one-quarter of Brazil’s population receive direct
payments from the national government under the Bolsa Família (Family Fund)
antipoverty program. Under this program a family with a per capita daily
income below approximately $2 per person per day receives a benefit of up to
$53 per month per person (The Economist, February 7, 2008). This infusion of cash
is dependent on the family’s children attending schooland participating in the
national vaccination program. This program is certainly having a positive effect
on peoples’ lives and nutrition. It is, however, a system that does not have the
same effect as Venezuela’s programs, which mobilize people to work together
for their own and their community’s benefit.

Page 38 of 42
Urban gardens have been used successfully in Cuba as well as other countries to
supply city dwellers with food as well as sources of income. These should be
strongly promoted—with creative use of available spacein urban settings.
Agriculture must becomeone of the top priorities for the third world. Even the
World Bank is beginning to stress the importance of governments assisting
agriculture in their countries. As Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former managing
director of the World Bank, has stated,
Today the attention of the world’s policy makers is focused on the sub-prime
woes, and the financial crises. But the real crisis is that of hunger and
malnutrition…this is the real problem that should grab the world’s attention. We
know that 75 percent of the world’s poor people are rural and most of them
depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Agriculture is today, more than ever,
a fundamental instrument for fighting hunger, malnutrition, and for supporting
sustainable development and poverty reduction. (All-Africa Global Media, February
19, 2008).
Almost every country in the world has the soil, water, and climate resources to
grow enough food so that all their people can eat a healthy diet. In addition, the
knowledge and crop varieties already exist in most countries so that if farmers

Page 39 of 42
are given adequate assistance they will be able to grow reasonably high yields
of crops.
Although enhanced agricultural production is essential, much of the emphasis in
the past has been on production of export crops. While this may help a
country’s balance of payments, export oriented agriculture does not ensure
sufficient food for everyone nor does it promote a healthy rural environment. In
addition to basic commodities such as soybeans, export-oriented agriculture also
leads naturally to the productionof high-value luxury crops demanded by
export markets (luxuries from the standpoint of the basic food needs of a poor
third world country), rather than the low-value subsistencecrops needed to meet
the needs of the domestic population. Productionof sufficient amounts of the
right kinds of food within each country’s borders—bysmall farmers working in
cooperatives or on their own and using sustainable techniques—is the best way
to achieve the goal of “food security”. In this way the population may be
insulated, at least partially, from the price fluctuations on the world market.
This, of course, also means not taking land out of food production to produce
crops for the biofuel markets.
One of the ways to do this and at the same time help with the problem of so
many people crowded into urban slums—the people most susceptible to food

Page 40 of 42
price increases—is to provide land through meaningful agrarian reforms. But
land itself is not enough. Beginning or returning farmers need technical and
financial supportin order to producefood. Additionally, social supportsystems,
such as cooperatives and community councils, need to be developed to help
promote camaraderie and to solidify the new communities that are developed.
Perhaps each community needs to be “seeded”with a sprinkling of devoted
activists. Also, housing, electricity, water, and wastewater need to be available
to make it attractive for people living in the cities to move to the countryside.
Another way to encourage people to move to the country to becomefarmers is
to appeal to patriotism and instil the idea that they are real pioneers, establishing
a new food system to help their countries gain food self-sufficiency, i.e.,
independence from transnational agribusiness corporations and provision of
healthy food for all the nation’s people. These pioneering farmers need to be
viewed by themselves, the rest of the society, and their government as critical to
the future of their countries and the well-being of the population. They must be
treated with the great respectthat they deserve.

Page 41 of 42
Conclusion:
Food is a human right and governments have a responsibility to see that their
people are well fed. In addition, there are known ways to end hunger, including
emergency measures to combat the current critical situation, urban gardens,
agrarian reforms that include a whole supportsystem for farmers and
sustainable agricultural techniques that enhance the environment. The present
availability of food to people reflects very unequal economic and political
power relationships within and between countries. A sustainable and secure
food system requires a different and much more equitable relationship among
people. The more the poorand farmers themselves are included in all aspects of
the effort to gain food security, and the more they are energized in the process,
the greater will be the chance of attaining lasting food security. As late
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, a country that has done so much to deal
with poverty and hunger, has put it,
‘‘Yes, it is important to end poverty, to end misery, but the most important
thing is to offer power to the poor so that they can fight for themselves’’.

Page 42 of 42
Bibliography:
 Food and Agricultural Organization
(FOA 1997 – 2012).
 Wikipedia article "2007-2008 World
Food Price crisis.
 Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, 2008.
 Goldman Sachs and American
Insurance Group (AIG), 2008.
 Michael David, Agricultural Specialist
in food &Agricultural import
regulation & stardard-narrative.
FAIRS Country report, Nigeria, 2009.
 Food and Water Watch (2009).
 United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development, (2009).
 The UN Special Reporter on Food,
Olivier De Schutter, 2010.
 The 2nd Global Conference on
Agriculture, Food Security and
Climate Change - "Hunger for Action.
- held in Ha Noï, Viet Nam,from 3 to
7 September 2012.
 Martin Khor of the Third World
Network, 2012.
 David Hecht of the Washington Post,
2012.
 Nigeria Agric Minister, Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina in Daily Independence, 2013.
 Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria
(RIFAN),2013.
 http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12
/rice-consumption-importation-
nigeria-solution-sight.
 www.foodassistanceconvention.org,
2013.
 UNICEF, food aid report on Africa
2013.

GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (9)

Similar to GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA

Similar to GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA (20)

GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS WITH EMPHASIS ON NIGERIA