More Mouths to Feed, Yet…
Sometimes I wonder what sustains our interests as a people. Is it the failings around us or the little steps of success we take when the rest of the world is moving in leaps?
Not to bother though, we have no choice but to join the rest of the world in moving forward because the rest of the world is not likely going to slow down because Nigeria is not ready. That is the nature of change. Ready or not, it catches up with you.
It is January and Agriculture is again on my mind. What are we doing to make food sufficiency a reality? A lot, I dare say. Yet, we need to keep doing more than we are doing because the number of mouths we have to feed continues to increase.
Statistics indicate that by the year 2030, Africa will have 2.2 billion persons and Nigeria alone will account for 339 million of this number. Unfortunately for Nigeria, while it would become about the fourth largest population in the world, other African countries will still be looking up to it to provide them some basic food supply. How this will affect the country, we will discuss another day.
The picture above is not an isolated case. The world population will continue to experience growth bringing unprecedented pressure on food production. Competition for land in emerging markets like Nigeria will become more intense with starters at a disadvantage.
Similarly, there will also be competition for water and energy, and the threat of climate change which has become one of mankind’s inevitable earnings from the abuse of the biosphere.
Ironically in Nigeria, while the big investors that are now coming into agriculture may stifle smaller farmers as it concerns the acquisition of a critical factor like land, the big farmers still have need for small and medium scale farmers to complement their operations if they are to operate at installed capacity.
Does this sound like an advantage? Obviously. Small and medium size farmers must always seek for opportunities that are often available especially from the large shade provided by the bigger farmers.
Perhaps the biggest advantage that awaits farmers in Nigeria is the often hidden hand of technology. As technology and research into different segments of agriculture business increases, local demand will automatically increase and price becomes more favourable to farmers.
Again, does this sound like a renewed hope for farmers in Nigeria? Another obvious yes. This optimism in the face of a global reality of increasing food demand amidst a growing human population, is the elixir the Nigerian farmer actually needs at this time.
We can actually feed the world.
How?
Stay on this thread and find out how.