English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

English - Essay Example This paper is a critical evaluation of food insecurity in Nigeria, detailing the causes, effects as well as responses being made to solve the dilemma. Food Insecurity in Nigeria Nigeria is a West African country, where food insecurity has continued to compromise the health and lives of citizens especially children, who are most vulnerable. Statistics indicate that more than 40% of children in the country are suffering from chronic malnutrition, which is a major threat to the future of this generation (Omotor 2009). This is due to the fact that malnutrition is a common recipe for poor growth and development in children, which may lead to poor academic performance and intellectual development. It is sad to note that the government of Nigeria is doing little to rescue these children. One way of doing this would be to introduce a free feeding system in government schools, whereby these children would be provided at least with a single meal containing all the basic requirements of a balan ced diet. In this context, the government should observe what countries such as Ghana are dealing with malnutrition in school going children. Apparently, Ghana has already put the system to work, with the government allocating $347.4 million to the program, which will be running for 5 years (Alderman 2009). It is said that the government of Nigeria had plans to execute a similar program but it has been observed that such a plan was never implemented hence the high rate of malnutrition in children. It may be important to note that approximately 60% of Nigeria’s population is malnourished (Omotor 2009). Rural urban migration in Nigeria is also a problem, which has contributed significantly to food insecurity in the country. This is due to the fact that it encourages the movement of young and able bodied citizens from the rural areas, leaving the weak and the vulnerable people to engage in food production. It is important to note that, in order to realize viable food production, a farmer requires putting a lot of efforts in caring for the crops thus the need for manpower to perform activities such as weeding, spraying pesticides, harvesting among others. In this context, Nigerian farmers in the rural areas are faced with scarcity of human resources, which has resulted to an increase in wages demanded by manual laborers, who take advantage of the high demand for their services. Consequently, this has made it difficult for farmers to afford the costs, especially due to the poverty factor, such that they have developed a habit of skipping these important activities (Olayemi 2003). The government has played a major role in facilitating this problem due to the fact that it has neglected the rural areas by failing to improve social amenities and infrastructure, which has continued to discourage people, especially young school leavers, from settling in these areas. Lack of decentralization of resources and Corruption in the government have been identified as majo r contributing factors, which have slowed down development such that majority of roads especially in the rural areas are in total disrepair or absent all together. With impassable roads, it becomes difficult and expensive to transport farm products form producing areas to the markets, which combined with high fuel prices results to increased food