Nigeria, 37 Others Bag UN Award for Meeting MDGs Hunger Target

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva

Senator Iroegbu

Contrary to the impression that there is so much hunger in the land, Nigeria and 37 other countries have received the commendation of the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) for reducing the number of people living in absolute hunger in their countries by half, well ahead of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target for the year 2015.

Over the weekend, Nigeria was presented with diplomas for meeting the MDG-1 target by the FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in Rome, Italy, during a high-level ceremony attended by several heads of state.

The ceremony took place during the week-long meeting of FAO's highest governing body, the Conference in Rome.

Graziano da Silva pointed out that there were 928 days until the 2015 MDG deadline, but he urged countries to go beyond that and aim for the complete elimination of hunger.

He stated: “To each and everyone of you, I want to say that you are a living proof that when societies decide to put an end to hunger, and when there is political commitment from governments, we can transform that will into concrete action and results.

“FAO is proud to work with all our member nations, developed and developing, to reach our common vision of a hunger-free and sustainable world.

“We are the first generation that can end hunger, which has plagued humanity since the birth of civilisation. Let's seize this opportunity.”

Other countries that also received diplomas for meeting the MDG-1 target included Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroun, Chile, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Niger, Panama, Togo and Uruguay.

Others are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The statement signed yesterday by Dr. Christopher Otabor for the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs (SSAP-MDGs), Dr. Precious Gbeneol, noted that the progress recorded by Nigeria in reducing hunger was a reflection of successful efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation team at improving the number of Nigerians living in absolute poverty and ensuring that hunger is further reduced before the 2015 deadline.

Gbeneol said SSAP-MDGs had intervened directly to enhance food security in the country through initiatives such as Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme under the Conditional Grants Scheme.

“We recognise that a key aspect in improving performance in the MDG 1 indicators is improving food security and we have practically demonstrated our commitment towards addressing the plight of the vulnerable segment of our population in this area by initiating programmes to tackle hunger, while investment on pro-poor programmes through the Conditional Grants Scheme and the Special Projects Units are also being scaled up,” she stated.

“The CCT programme which was scaled up as part of the 2012 DRGs budget, adopts a multi-faceted approach in its engagement with issues of hunger and poverty reduction and engages 56,000 low-income households across 24 states of the federation.

“The exit strategy of the programme is the provision of the sum of N100,000 to participants as principal capital for startup of an agricultural enterprise. The condition for the release of this sum is the completion of 3-month training in an agro-business. Households are supported to invest in poultry, fishery, and backyard vegetable production, among other areas,” she disclosed.

She further stated that SSAP-MDGs has in a bid to improve food security increased support to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. “In 2011, the sum of N541 million was provided for agricultural investment targeted at improving food security. In 2012, the sum of N5.1 billion was allocated while in 2013, the sum of N4.73 billion was appropriated in the federal budget to foster food security.

“The increased allocation in 2012 and 2013 was done to support Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Through the 2013 DRGs Budget, OSSAP-MDGs is supporting the Federal Ministry of Youth Development to train youths to start agricultural enterprises. These enterprises span the areas of aquaculture, livestock rearing, fabrication, repair and maintenance of agro-equipment and crop value chains.

“In addition to this training, startup capital is being provided with access to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture’s GES, to increase fertiliser provision, amongst other avenues of input support,” she said.

Caption: FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva
Nigeria, 37 Others Bag UN Award for Meeting MDGs Hunger Target
Senator Iroegbu
Contrary to the impression that there is so much hunger in the land, Nigeria and 37 other countries have received the commendation of the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) for reducing the number of people living in absolute hunger in their countries by half, well ahead of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target for the year 2015.

Over the weekend, Nigeria was presented with diplomas for meeting the MDG-1 target by the FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in Rome, Italy, during a high-level ceremony attended by several heads of state.

The ceremony took place during the week-long meeting of FAO's highest governing body, the Conference in Rome.

Graziano da Silva pointed out that there were 928 days until the 2015 MDG deadline, but he urged countries to go beyond that and aim for the complete elimination of hunger.

He stated: “To each and everyone of you, I want to say that you are a living proof that when societies decide to put an end to hunger, and when there is political commitment from governments, we can transform that will into concrete action and results.

“FAO is proud to work with all our member nations, developed and developing, to reach our common vision of a hunger-free and sustainable world.

“We are the first generation that can end hunger, which has plagued humanity since the birth of civilisation. Let's seize this opportunity.”

Other countries that also received diplomas for meeting the MDG-1 target included Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroun, Chile, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Niger, Panama, Togo and Uruguay.

Others are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The statement signed yesterday by Dr. Christopher Otabor for the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs (SSAP-MDGs), Dr. Precious Gbeneol, noted that the progress recorded by Nigeria in reducing hunger was a reflection of successful efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation team at improving the number of Nigerians living in absolute poverty and ensuring that hunger is further reduced before the 2015 deadline.

Gbeneol said SSAP-MDGs had intervened directly to enhance food security in the country through initiatives such as Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme under the Conditional Grants Scheme.

“We recognise that a key aspect in improving performance in the MDG 1 indicators is improving food security and we have practically demonstrated our commitment towards addressing the plight of the vulnerable segment of our population in this area by initiating programmes to tackle hunger, while investment on pro-poor programmes through the Conditional Grants Scheme and the Special Projects Units are also being scaled up,” she stated.

“The CCT programme which was scaled up as part of the 2012 DRGs budget, adopts a multi-faceted approach in its engagement with issues of hunger and poverty reduction and engages 56,000 low-income households across 24 states of the federation.

“The exit strategy of the programme is the provision of the sum of N100,000 to participants as principal capital for startup of an agricultural enterprise. The condition for the release of this sum is the completion of 3-month training in an agro-business. Households are supported to invest in poultry, fishery, and backyard vegetable production, among other areas,” she disclosed.

She further stated that SSAP-MDGs has in a bid to improve food security increased support to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. “In 2011, the sum of N541 million was provided for agricultural investment targeted at improving food security. In 2012, the sum of N5.1 billion was allocated while in 2013, the sum of N4.73 billion was appropriated in the federal budget to foster food security.

“The increased allocation in 2012 and 2013 was done to support Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Through the 2013 DRGs Budget, OSSAP-MDGs is supporting the Federal Ministry of Youth Development to train youths to start agricultural enterprises. These enterprises span the areas of aquaculture, livestock rearing, fabrication, repair and maintenance of agro-equipment and crop value chains.