Get Guardian on GoogleStakeholders in the agriculture, health and development sectors have called for stronger collaboration and an integrated approach to addressing Nigeria’s food security and nutrition challenges.
They said fragmented policies, programmes and interventions by government institutions and development partners have undermine efforts to improve agricultural productivity, household incomes and nutrition outcomes.
The stakeholders made the call at the Change Makers Conference organised by Sahel Consulting, with the theme, Aligning for Impact, where they emphasised the need for coordinated action among public institutions, private sector players and development partners.
Speaking at the the conference the Managing Partner Sahel Consulting Dr Temitope Adegoroye said agriculture remained one of the most consequential sectors in Nigeria, providing livelihoods for more than 200 million people, with approximately one in three working Nigerians connected to agricultural food systems.
He regretted that despite significant investments in the sector, interventions remained poorly coordinated.
He identified climate shocks, insecurity and rising input as interconnected challenges affecting agricultural production, household incomes and nutrition, thereby leading to reduced harvests, incomes, poor diets and malnutrition with impact on human health, capital development and productivity, leaving vulnerable households exposed to further economic shocks.
He said addressing the challenges required more than additional programmes and investment, but the need for shared frameworks, aligned data, coordinated institutional mandates and effective governance.
He added that declining development assistance and stretched public budgets had made coordination among stakeholders increasingly necessary to maximise available resources.
The Country Director of German Development Cooperation Dr Markus Wagner said achieving sustainable economic, environmental and social outcomes in the agricultural sector required collaboration among government, private sector operators and development partners.
Dr Wagner who was represented by Dr Andre Rudijah said the partnership with Sahel Consulting was driven by a shared commitment to supporting smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change and improving outcomes across the food system.
She stressed the need to move beyond individual projects towards sustainable platforms for collective action, noting that organisations often pursued similar objectives but operated independently.
Dr Wagner observed that information generated by different organisations did not always reach the relevant stakeholders, while successful project outcomes were sometimes difficult to sustain after funding ended.
He urged participants to identify existing coordination gaps, determine institutions responsible for taking the lead and agree on achievable priorities over the next 12 months.
He also called for clear documentation of agreements and assignment of responsibilities to ensure effective monitoring of progress.
Executive Board Chair Sahel Consulting Dr Ndidi Okonkwo highlighted the relationship between agricultural productivity, maternal health and child nutrition, saying interventions should be designed around the needs of households rather than individual sectors.
She cited Nigeria’s maternal and child health challenges, including malnutrition, inadequate healthcare and poor access to clean water, as issues closely connected to the country’s agricultural and food systems.
According to her, farmers face similar challenges, including insecurity and climate change, which affect their livelihoods and the availability of nutritious food.
Dr Okonkwo noted that primary healthcare centres and agricultural extension structures existed across the country’s 774 local government areas, providing opportunities for integrating agricultural and health interventions.
She suggested that farmers’ households could benefit from agricultural inputs, including improved seeds, while accessing antenatal care and other healthcare services.
She regretted that despite discussions about integrating such interventions about six years ago, little progress had been made.
The Sahel Consulting Board Chair however called for a household-centred approach to programme design, urging stakeholders to break down institutional silos and align their interventions for greater impact.
She also acknowledged the contributions of GIZ, the German government, the Gates Foundation, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), ACE Foods and the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) to the initiative.
She particularly urged journalists to go beyond reporting statistics released by government and civil society organisations by investigating conditions at the grassroots to establish the realities facing communities.
The conference also featured discussions on strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships and transitioning from individual development projects to sustainable collaborative platforms.
