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Engineers, lecturers task Federal Government on food security

By Gordi Udeajah, Umuahia
14 August 2016   |   3:08 am
Worried by the prevailing level of food insecurity in the country, coupled with the abysmal performance of food and agro industries, the Federal Government has been urged ...
food security

food security

Worried by the prevailing level of food insecurity in the country, coupled with the abysmal performance of food and agro industries, the Federal Government has been urged to put in place a vibrant food and industrial sector that would provide processed foods and services for the growing population.

This was the position of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Umuahia branch, during its engineering week, with the theme: “Food Security in Nigeria: The Role of Engineers”, noting that if such step were taken; it would also conserve foreign exchange by reducing food importation.

A Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering, Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike  (MOUAU), Dr. Joseph Adama, in his paper titled; “The Scorecard of Food and Agro Industries in Nigeria and The Way forward,” listed some of the causes of the low performance of food and agro industries as heavy importation of inputs, scarcity and high cost of agro raw materials, poor funding, infrastructure challenges, manpower shortage, competition with imported products and poor implementation of government policies, among others.

According to him, the solution lies in what he called ethical reorientation, developing communication and extension system and mechanising agriculture, noting that a well developed and implemented agricultural mechanisation policy will modernise “our agricultural production and processing systems and ensure regular supply of raw materials, not only for food and agro industrial sector, but other sectors.

“While the surplus raw materials will be exported and the proceeds used to import machinery that have not been develop locally, which are needed in the food and agro industry.”

In the keynote paper, “Food Security in Nigeria: The Role of Engineers,” delivered by Professor Victor Ndirika, also of MOUAU, he said that inadequate information on agriculture remains a serious problem, lamenting that food insecurity in the country has lingered for long due to poor mechanisation of food production, processing, storage and distribution processes.

According to him, much food has been lost in the primitive process of food production and storage. “If the nation is to escape famine and reduce poverty, crop production must not only be boosted, but the political will by government should be there. Any vision towards solving the challenges of food security cannot be fully achieved without utilising and maximising the great potentials of engineers in Nigeria,” he said.

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