The Cross River State Government has called on the Federal Government to sponsor researches that would help improve Nigeria’s food system and reduce the challenges of stunted growth.

Governor Ben Ayade who made this call at the National consolidatory Dialogue on the United Nations Food Summit 2021 in Abuja on Tuesday said that the quality of food must be prioritised.

Hinting on food fortification, Ayade noted that China was confronted with the challenge of stunted growth due to poor food quality during the World War, which led to researches that helped improve their food systems.

He explained that food fortification was “precision technology aimed at improving quality of food” and urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of policy, focus on food fortification while pursuing its food sufficiency agenda.

“Again, there is a direct relationship between hunger and anger. When people became hungry, anger sets in. This anger often finds expression in restiveness and all sorts of crimes.

“So, food sufficiency is critical but food quality is twice as critical. All tiers of government have the responsibility to ensure that technology is made available to farmers to help improve our food system,” he said.

Ayade who chaired the event on behalf of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, maintained that 21st-century agriculture was driven by technology with focus on knowledge engineering, arguing that smallholders’ farming as presently practiced in the country was old-fashioned.

He said, “In Thailand for instance, it is the responsibility of the government to provide irrigation, inputs, extension services and off-takers. The responsibility of the farmer is to nurse his crops. We still practice the 20th-century agriculture system in Nigeria. We must entrench technology-driven agriculture with a focus on knowledge engineering.

“It’s always very challenging for sub nationals whose federal allocation is not even enough to pay salaries to begin to focus on agriculture. If I was to speak at any forum, I would speak on food security, food system, theory and practice. In practice, most of the advice and suggestions given during the dialogue session are underpinned by financing.

“When there is no finance, there is very little you can do. The problems are known, the solutions are well articulated but the reality is that there is inadequate financing to drive the process to expected ends.

“The Federal Government has a responsibility beyond budgetary provision, to take an extra step in collaboration with the United Nations in order to fully achieve the objectives of her agriculture revolution. It is sad that Nigeria is number 2 in the statistics of stunted growth in the world. We must be very committed to addressing issues at the sub-national level. One of my key focuses is agriculture.

“I have set up agro-based industries in every senatorial district of the state. Our investment in agriculture is massive. We are the largest producers of cassava in Nigeria.

“In Obubra, we have set up a cassava processing plant that will produce commercial starch. We are fortifying our variety to produce quality cassava flour as an alternative to wheat flour. You have to have a combination of knowledge and funding to be able to bring value otherwise we will continue to remain at the academic level,” Ayade added.