Deconstructing food security through agrarian revolution

The agrarian revolution is  a vision encrypted  in the  policy trust of the Government  of Anambra state, and is unveiled to recapture the idyllic  past in order to fight global economic downturn that has created hunger in Nigeria. The Governor’s revolutionary response to hunger and anger is a solution to food security through availability and access to nutritious food for everyone. An agrarian socio- economic formation in liberal economy.

This, Lenin would say, “is a change which breaks the old order to its very foundation.” Thus, as a fundamental aspect of societal well-being, for we do not live to eat, but we need to eat to live it is a conscious social scheme powered by governmental instrument, legal or interventional, to make food available to the populace.

One revolutionary flavor of this millennial scheme is it’s collaboration with all sectors from governments and businesses to individuals and communities, in the launch of “Farm to Feed Campaign.” Coming at a time of nationwide hunger protests against economic hardship sweeping across Nigeria, Agricultural revolution is tagged as a sustainable solution to hunger, both in the short and long term.

The “Farm to Feed Campaign” is to encourage Anambra citizens to leverage on available piece of land for farming, with the objective to increase food supply, ease the pressure on food prices, foster a sense of shared responsibility and community spirit, It is also an methodological scheme in farming called micro farming like micro- buisiness, micro-financing and micro- organic synthesis. It’s a farming which location and space could take place at domestic backyards or other available spaces in rural and urban centres.

Soludo’s  revolutionary farming scheme is therefore a solution  that creates opportunities for additional income  for   poverty and hardship  alleviation at  individual and community level. For long term purposes,  Anambra youths are under going skill acquisitions  to enhance  them in a number of innovative skills  including farming vocation  and  mechanised agriculture. By encouraging youth participation in agriculture, the campaign goes further to address unemployment issues while ensuring the continuity of farming expertise and practices.

The farm-to-feed is consolidated with distribution of palm and coconut seedlings which has the potential for promoting sustainable and equitable agricultural practices that can have long-term positive environmental impacts. The state government is promoting planting of cassava stems, maize seeds, short-duration crop seedlings, and so on, to help even novice gardeners turn the patches of earth in their backyards into productive micro-farms. The focus is on fast tracking and growing nutrient-rich crops that can provide quick relief to struggling families. “This is not about creating commercial farms overnight, but it is about empowering our people to take control of their food supply, one household at a time” (Soludo, 2024).

The state government’s Agricultural revolution  also engaged the private sector  such as  Artelia Consulting Engineers Ltd and representatives of Anambra State Government  to draft the Anambra state Industrial City Master plan (AMIC). This is in collaboration with the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority for the realisation of the nascent farm to feed and food security revolution in the state.

Located in the Orumba North District of Anambra on a 4,000-hectare of land. AMIC will is developed for the manufacturing of industrial components. It will have agro and food processing plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing industries, automobile assembly plants, textile industries and various manufacturing outfits with state-of-the-art infrastructure in order to attract and support investments. AMIC will have a residential zone and an export emporium in its complex. “The industrial scale facilities required for the beneficiaries of the mineral resources of Anambra – such as limestone, baryte, lead, gold, kaolin, lignite, garnet, pyrite, coal and clay – will be available in AMIC. AMIC is designed to have state-of-the-art infrastructure.” These include well planned roads, power infrastructure, reticulated water supply system, sewage treatment plants and communication infrastructure powered by fiber optic systems. It is designed to be a sustainable, eco-industrial and smart city.

In furtherance of the Food security scheme and revolution ever to take place in the south east, the government of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo is reactivating dam and Irrigation farming in Anambra in partnership with the Federal government (FG). It is believed that reactivating long forgotten irrigation farming for food security will go a long way to alleviate food scarcity and hunger in the state.

This component of the farming to feed revolution is a five-year project towards resuscitating existing federal government water source/dam for production of crops, especially rice and maize. It is a long term solution to food security, reducing dependence on imports and preemptively preventing future food inflation crises.

The focus on agriculture would contribute to diversifying the state’s economy, creating a more resilient economic structure less vulnerable to shock’s from global economy.

Governor Soludo’s agrarian revolution is saying: “Let us get to work, every citizen, one at a time…be the change you desire,” with the belief that this would spark off a cultural transformation, elevating the status of agriculture in the society to same level as  ICT.
Prof. Dukor is President/Editor-in-Chief, Essence Library

(Cultural and Scientific Development Centre) Department of Philosophy, UNIZIK.