Zero Hunger Relating to Food: Analytical Essay on The Hunger Situation in Nigeria

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I was privileged to live in Sokoto state, a north-western part of Nigeria for three years where I see hundreds of children that roam the streets without knowing what to eat or having an idea of what their next meal could be and with the feelings of maybe they will survive the following day or not. This is also the case of about 815million children that suffer malnutrition in the world today because they come from families that could barely provide one square meal for themselves- most of these children are abandoned to survive on their own by their parents at an early stage of their lives. In a discovery made by the UN, majority of undernourished people lives in developing countries where about 13.4% of the population lives in hunger- Nigeria for example.

Hunger is a chronic malnutrition that arises from the constant failures of political and economic democracy (Johnson 2001). It is mainly caused by a lack of consideration and change by the government. This is an issue that needs to be solved which has being the work of the UN to ensure that no one will be left hungry. Similarly, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines hunger as an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy’ (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2018, p.159).

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It saddens my heart to say that children are the ones who receives the most consequences of hunger and as a result, 45 percent of deaths under five years is caused by poor nutrition (un.org).

The Hunger Situation in Nigeria

Nigeria my country is the most populated country in Africa and the seventh largest in the world with over 182 million people. Being the Africa’s wealthiest, majority of the people in the country are living below poverty line which is prevalent in the northern Nigeria as they suffer the highest level of chronic under nutrition among children (actionsagainsthunger.org). The annual increase charge of the population is about 2.7% and almost 1/2 of the populace is below the age of 14 years (UNFPA 2015 estimates). Nigeria is the 10th biggest producer of crude oil in the world and the use of an accomplished lower-middle profits popularity in 2014. The gross home product (GDP) is estimated at US$568.5 billion and gross countrywide income (GNI) per capita at $5,710. Seventy percent of the labour pressure works in agriculture, which contributes about 20% to GDP; the hastily developing provider zone contributes 54.6%; and the final share is derived from the industrial sector.

It is so unfortunate that the human development indicators are poor because persistent inequality poverty has an have an effect on more than half of the population, most severely in the Northeast and Northwest zones. Around a hundred and ten million Nigerians, representing over 60% of the total population, stay beneath the poverty line. (WHO Global Health Observatory 2013).

Sadly, the insurgency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states in 2014 has displaced 2.6 million people, including 700,000 who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries. The battle has brought pressure to a fragile useful resource environment and extended the meals and vitamin insecurity of prone women and children. Nigeria is also subject to periodic droughts and floods; this has adversely impacted agricultural output and expanded the vulnerability of populations, mainly in rural areas. Food insecurity is amongst the most difficult socio-economic troubles in Nigeria and growing nations at massive which requires extra attention, improvement and positive contributions. In Nigeria, increase in population, improper implementation of agricultural policies and legislation, and ineffective implementation of some certain programs (such as operation feed the nation, green revolution, National agricultural land development authority’s intervention (NALDA)) are numbered as causes to food supply instability and poor environment health.

Food protection is the condition in which all people, at all times, have physical, social, and financial gate entry to ample safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary wishes and meals preferences for a lively and healthy life (Committee on World Food Security 2012). The fundamental symptoms of food protection encompass availability, access, steadiness and utilization. The main situation of most developing countries, such as Nigeria, is that of persistent food insecurity as its human and economic charges are immense. Achievement of food safety in any us of a is commonly an insurance plan against hunger and malnutrition, each of which prevent economic development thru degraded human assets (Davies 2009).

Both the market and coverage drivers of food manufacturing depend on rural dwellers to produce meals for the teeming urban population, and in so doing enhance rural livelihood and generate employment. Smallholder agricultural producers represent most rural dwellers, working farms that too frequently fail to produce surpluses for small- and medium-scale enterprises throughout rural Nigeria. In this way, strengthening smallholder farming systems outcomes in greater productivity and boom of the national economy. Yet smallholders operate more at the subsistence degree of production, with too little capability to eliminate the triad of hunger, meals insecurity, and malnutrition except their operations are modernized, and market prerequisites facilitated. (World Bank 2016; Central Bank of Nigeria 2006), meals manufacturing continues to upward jostle in Nigeria, a significant reduction in positive aspects has befell over the past decade or so, and growth across sectors is erratic. There is an expectation that Nigeria’s population will double by means of 2040, rendering the success of zero hunger necessary to the country’s future. THE HUNGER SITUATION IN THE U.K

In a wealthy society, no one should go hungry not in a country like UK that has a phenomenally successful agricultural industry. In 2018, the UK was the fifth largest economy in the world and the food and soft drinks manufacturing sector is the largest in the UK, but even at this, there are lots of domestic and international factors that affect food production and prices for consumers which became crystal clear during the sporadic increase in world food price of 2008 (Global Food Security 2020). More than 8 million people in Britain live in households that struggle to put enough food on the table, with over half regularly going a whole day without eating, according to estimates of hunger in the UK.

The UK is ranked in the bottom half of European countries for food insecurity, an analysis reported in 2016 by Food Foundation thinktank (Patrick, 2016) of which according to the analysis of UN data by the Food Foundation thinktank, 17 times the number of people who use Trussell Trust food banks were insecure about getting enough to eat.

The UK food supply chain represents 6.8% of gross value added (around £107 billion) and 4 million jobs with around 500,000 people in farming and fishing and over 400,000 people in food manufacturing. The UK is not self-sufficient in food production; it imports 48% of the total food consumed and the proportion is rising. Therefore, as a food-trading nation, the UK relies on both imports and a thriving agricultural sector to feed itself and drive economic growth. (Global Food Security 2020).

Zero hunger as a situation

The Zero Hunger goal is at the heart of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which is to provide food and resources to every child and family that are adversely affected by malnutrition and lack of access to good meals (fao.org) – but this mission for the world at large will not be achieved unless everybody tries. There are millions of children that are suffering from acute malnutrition, if ways are being figured out on how to get these children the food that they need, hopefully world hunger will be non-existent.

The goal of the UN is to put an end to world hunger at large and the reason is because, in the early 2000’s, there was a drastic spike in food prices which led to high demand of food. UNICEF on the other hand is working tirelessly to achieve this goal as well. If it is achieved, hunger will be ended everlastingly. Following its programmes, “in more than 90 countries across the world, UNICEF wants to guarantee that good diet is an actuality for children, families and communities that are in dire need of it” (unicef.org).

(Abdulkadyrova 1) stated and I quote ‘the problem of food at the present stage of development of mankind is due to the excessive use of natural resources which leads to the lack of food resources’ and this is what inspired UN to make a change. Local farms are being supported by UN so the price of food produce would lower. It is believed that to ‘farm successful, small holders need undeniable access to land and water, affordable electricity and better access to financial support, good road networking to get their food products to market, and access to technology for reliable market information’ (ifad.org).

Human impacts on zero hunger

Hunger is the leading cause of death in the world and it is not caused by food shortage alone, but by a combination of natural, social, and political forces. Our planet has provided us with tremendous resources, but unequal access and inefficient handling leaves millions of people malnourished. The natural resources that are necessary for human survival—like freshwater, the ocean, forests, soils, and more—are dwindling. Climate change contributes to the degradation of these resources, as severe weather events, like droughts, become more common and affect harvests, leading to less food for human consumption. Poverty and inequality are also two drivers of hunger, affecting who can buy food, as well as what kind of food, and how much, is available. Hunger is also a product of war and conflict (nationalgeographic.org).

If we look at this topic from a critical point of view, it is seen that the major cause of hunger is climate change which is a threat multiplier for hungry and undernourished people. Countries with high levels of hunger are often also highly vulnerable to climate change and have a low capacity to adapt. It affects food production and availability, access, quality, utilization, and stability of food systems. In short, it impacts all aspects of the food system. It is not farfetched to say that extreme weather-related disasters are increasing and reduce the yields of major crops while higher levels of CO2 reduce the nutritional value of crops.

The global food system contributes about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. About ⅔ of food are lost and wasted from farm to table. These losses therefore exacerbate climate change without improving food security or nutrition. Climate change and conflict combined destroy livelihoods, drive displacement, widen inequalities, and undermine sustainable development. Ending hunger and undernutrition in a changing climate demands large-scale action from everyone in the world

Targets to eradicate hunger

Some of the targets of the zero hunger goals by 2030 is to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition and ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food by the poor in vulnerable situations, including infants. It is also an aim to double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, farmers, pastoralists, and fishermen, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment. There is also the plan to ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters which progressively improve land and soil quality.

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