Buhari at UN summit: Nigeria’s food system prioritises healthy diets, affordable nutrition

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s food system is based on a developmental agenda that prioritises healthy diets and affordable.

According to a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, Buhari said this on Thursday, while addressing the ‘Food Systems Summit’ as part of the high level meetings of the 76th session of the United Nations general assembly in New York.

The president said Nigeria’s food system will contribute to the rebuilding of the economy that will facilitate the creation of jobs and ensure growth in other sectors.

He added that the development agenda on the country’s food system was the “outcome of wide stakeholder-engagement” geared towards a better understanding of the food systems.

Buhari said his administration is committed to investing in food security and dissemination of nutrition education, insisting that the move will reduce “many stresses and shocks to our food systems”.

He described the food system as focused on a “development agenda that prioritises healthy diets and affordable nutrition, inclusive, efficient, resilient and sustainable, which will contribute to rebuilding our economy, creating jobs and spurring growth across sectors while sustaining our ecosystems”.

“Following the recommendations from the dialogues and our plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade, Nigeria is committed to: investing in food security and nutrition knowledge dissemination, skills’ development, and information management systems to enhance agricultural productivity; building sustainable, responsive, and inclusive food systems; enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers and empowering women and youths for greater access to food production; while strengthening climate mitigation strategies and conflict early warning systems that will reduce the many stresses and shocks to our food systems,” he said.

Buhari, who commended the UN secretary-general for convening the summit, said it is part of efforts to ensure that the world stays on track to meet the sustainable development goals, despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To transform our food systems and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, we hope to learn from, and collaborate with Member States that have grappled or are grappling with food systems concerns similar to ours. We especially support the emerging coalitions of actions and sustainable food systems,” he added.