As Nigeria joins the global community to celebrate this year’s World Food Day, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), has called for adequate, nutritious, and healthy food, saying it’s a fundamental human right.

Executive Director of HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, who made the call in a statement to mark this year’s celebration, said the day is a reminder for people, organisations, and governments to unravel the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, address food injustice, and end the abuse of farmers’ rights.

The day is a reminder of the avoidable fate of millions worldwide and especially in Africa who suffer from hunger despite abundant natural and human resources.

“The day is a reminder of the avoidable fate of millions worldwide and especially in Africa who suffer from hunger despite abundant natural and human resources.

“This year, we are reminded that “food” is more than just body fuel. It represents the health of our communities, the livelihoods of our farmers, the preservation of our biodiversity and culture, and the future of our planet,” he added.

Bassey said though “we live in a world of abundant natural and human resources, the paradox of modern food systems is stark: millions still face the daily reality of hunger, while others suffer from the consequences of poor nutrition. Climate change, economic instability, and conflict continue to disrupt the fragile chains that connect farmers to our tables, reminding us that farmers’ security is imperative at national and global levels.”

Speaking on climate resilience and soil health, Bassey noted that “World Food Day should be a day of reflection. It must also be a day of structural reckoning. We are currently trapped in a food system defined by ‘monoculture and cash cropping,’ where diversity is sacrificed for industrial uniformity. This approach has not only left our food chains fragile and prone to collapse but also stripped our soil of its vitality and our farmers of their agency.”

Bassey further charged Nigerians to be intentional about what is on their plates.

“Food sovereignty is the essential, missing piece in the currently proposed solutions to the food and climate crises. Indigenous seeds are our greatest assets in the face of a changing climate; they are a library of genetic diversity that holds the keys to drought resistance, pest management, and nutritional density.

“We must move beyond the short-sighted goal of ‘yield at any cost’ and support a transition to agroecology. Protecting indigenous seeds is not just about local control; it is about preserving the biodiversity that prevents ecosystem collapse. We cannot have a healthy planet if we continue to destroy the very biological foundations that are our seeds, that allow life to persist.”