Nigeria is set to develop the implementation strategy for Food System Transformation Pathway in order to boost security and reduce unemployment among youths and women.
Dr Sanjo Faniran, who is the National Convenor of the UN Food Systems and Director of Social Development, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, disclosed this in Abuja.
Faniran said that the strategy would address the questions of poverty, inadequate supply of nutritious food and non-consumption of minimum dietary diversity in the country.
He said it would also address stunting, chronic malnutrition, underweight, anaemia and diet-related noncommunicable diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, stroke and cancers, among others.
Faniran said that the national food systems transformation aimed to achieve some goals by 2030 as well as promote sustainable food trade, increase women’s empowerment in Agriculture Index Score, and increase Environmental Performance Index score.
The food system pathways aim to improve the productivity and sustainability of the food system while promoting health and nutrition, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing socio-economic development in Nigeria.
The implementation of these pathways requires a multi-stakeholder approach and engagement at all levels to ensure that the objectives are achieved.
To this end, he said, the ministry would hold a zonal workshop involving stakeholders in Kano on Monday and Awka, Anambra on Thursday on the development of the strategy.
He said that the workshop would be in collaboration with Kano State Government, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation, IFAD, GAIN and AGRA.
The Kano consultation workshop is to harvest input from all the Northern States towards the development of a robust and inclusive implementation of the strategy.
Faniran said that consultation workshops would be used to harvest input of stakeholders, especially state actors in the Food System Value Chain, to strengthen and ensure an inclusive and jointly-owned Plan, taking into consideration various professional, technical and socio-economic positions of the stakeholders.