Policy Brief: Nigeria’s ‘Food-Insecure’ Urban Households on the Fringe
Published January 28, 2024 Ms. Obaje J. single mother of five kids on a monthly salary of approximately $28.57 or 40,000 Nigerian Naira (NGN) at the galloping exchange rate of $1 to NGN1,400 struggles in the
Published January 28, 2024
Ms. Obaje J. single mother of five kids on a monthly salary of approximately $28.57 or 40,000 Nigerian Naira (NGN) at the galloping exchange rate of $1 to NGN1,400 struggles in the Ilaje community in Bariga Lagos to allocate her meagre wages to meet competing needs for her household without the help of a husband who passed on a few years ago. Every week, she gives 36 cents or 500 NGN to each of her three school age children for school lunch or $5.35 weekly. This taking 75% of her monthly salary. In the Urban slums of Lagos, people live by the day unsure of what tomorrow holds.
Mr. Monday I., head of a household of 5 lives on a monthly salary of $21.43 or 30,000 Nigerian Naira (NGN), constantly straining to make ends meet as he combines his day job with plumbing, a side hustle he learnt in earlier years. He complained that he is constantly unable to give his family the minimum food they desire, having to make do with whatever alternatives they find.
Picture Above: Third From Left Ms. Obaje J. a Single Mother and Head of a Household of 6
These stories are true of the Ilaje Bariga community in Lagos Nigeria where we are organizing small groups in a pilot food security project to enable them adapt to the prevailing food inflation in the country. This is also not an isolated case, but is widespread across the length and breadth of the country. According to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2023, Nigeria ranked 109th out of 125 countries polled (1). With a score of 28.3, in the review year, the hunger level in the country is described as serious. While the GHI report was for 2023, what we currently find on the ground seems to point to an hunger index tending towards alarming. If the situation is not addressed holistically, the hunger situation in Nigeria will continue to worsen.
Another report by the World Food Programme (WFP) corroborates our position. Pointing to conflict and insecurity, rising inflation and the impact of climate crises as culprits that continue to drive hunger in Nigeria: “with 26.5 million people across the country projected to face acute hunger in the June-August 2024 lean season.” In its country brief for Nigeria, the WFP reports it is “prioritising its operations to reach 1.1 million vulnerable people every month in Northern Nigeria. Those receiving assistance include displaced people living in camps or host communities, as well as vulnerable members of host communities and people returning home after months of displacement.” (2)
While the WFPs programme in Nigeria as in other jurisdictions is laudable, we find that it is only palliative, falling short of addressing the hydra headed root causes of hunger and food insecurity in the country on a sustainable basis. In my opinion, these can only be resolved from a policy perspective that derives from building sustainable systems across board in the short, medium to long terms. Any realistic approach also has to be dimensioned to work across different segments of the country whether rural-urban, low-mid income and generally across all strata. It cannot be a one-size fits all approach.
Video Above: Cohort Engagement Held January 27th, 2024 at Deacon Adelani Fajobi’s Compound a Community Leader in Arobabade Street Bariga
The problem of food insecurity in Nigeria is alarming. What we find even more so is the graveyard silence of policy makers on this existential threat; with an ‘ostrich-like’ attitude that hopes the problem will go away on its own. One only needs to remember the insecurity that attended the lockdowns of Covid-19 in 2020 to realize that food insecurity in the country is a ticking time bomb that will detonate without notice and taking no hostages.
There is an urgent need for stakeholders to jointly seek viable ways to practically engage the problem of food insecurity across the country. From our own point of view, a short term opportunity lies in organizing communities to collaboratively work towards alleviating hunger within small groups. If done well, this will create self-sustaining movements that mimic the way traditional African societies have survived for eons. In my village of Ekumtak in Ogoja Cross River State, famine is routinely overcome by communal living. The community comes together to protect its weakest members. I am of the view that this self-sustaining system can be replicated across the many urban slums of Nigeria.
We are currently trying out this model in Ilaje Bariga and the cohorts appear enthusiastic that it holds promise to cushion the harsh realities of galloping food inflation and food insecurity they daily face. According to Madam Igheseme Roseline at the cohort engagement that held at 17 Arobabade Street Bariga on Saturday January 27th 2024, this project “gives us hope that there can be light at the end of this very dark tunnel we are passing through. Eating decent food has become a luxury in Lagos.”
References:
(1) https://www.globalhungerindex.org/nigeria.html#:~:text=In%20the%202023%20Global%20Hunger,of%20hunger%20that%20is%20serious
(2) WFP Nigeria Country Brief October 2023
Peggy J. February 14, 2024
The hunger situation in Nigeria is challenging. It is heartbreaking to read of these low income households and what they are currently grappling with. It is however gratifying to see and read of the work your organization is doing in this area and the potential impact it can have when scaled up across the country
Busayo O. February 23, 2024
A lot needs to be done to urgently address hunger for this bracket of the population. Your work is commendable!
Yusuf A.A February 23, 2024
Can a community or group invite your organization to develop a similar project for any constituency it chooses anywhere in the country? If yes, what are the modalities?
ajsd February 23, 2024
Hi Yusuf. Yes we are open to working with any individuals or groups to -in this case – end hunger at the individual, household and community level. Send an email to partnerships@ajsd.org and someone from our team will get across to you. Many thanks for your kind thoughts 🙏