Agricultural and food security experts have raised alarm over Nigeria’s worsening hunger levels, calling for urgent, innovation-driven solutions to rebuild the country’s agro-food systems.

They made the call yesterday at Agroween ’25: Food, Agriculture and Innovation Festival organised by the Intergenerational Rescue Foundation (IRF) in collaboration with the Department of Social Work, University of Lagos (UNILAG).

The Chief Operating Officer of IRF, Mrs. Bimbola Aghahowa, said hunger has become one of the most alarming social challenges facing Nigerian families, with millions now struggling to meet basic food needs. She said the trend required immediate and collective action from the government, institutions and citizens.

Aghahowa cautioned against blaming parents for rising poverty and hunger, insisting that structural failures and governance gaps remained at the heart of the crisis.

“African youths often blame their parents for their shortcomings. But our parents are not to be blamed. It is the government and us. If irresponsibility continues, the young ones coming after us will say the same thing about us,” she said.

Citing global and national data, she warned that about 25.6 per cent of Nigerians (approximately 50 million people) suffer from hunger, compared to the global average of 9.2 per cent.

“Lagos has a hunger rate of about 30 per cent. In the Southwest, it is between 20 and 25 per cent; in the Southeast, it is around 15 to 20 per cent; and in the North, it is as high as 50 per cent. These numbers are staggering and require collective action,” she said.

Aghahowa said IRF’s ‘Food Not for Sale’ model frames food as a basic human right rather than a commodity, adding that the initiative encourages food redistribution, community involvement and the establishment of food pantries across Agroween chapters.

She explained that Agroween was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic when food shortages worsened. According to her, the “Food Not for Sale” theory proposes a paradigm shift in addressing food insecurity through community-driven, redistributive mechanisms that guarantee access to nutritious food for all.

She urged stakeholders to prioritise food security, stressing that society has a moral duty to ensure that no one is denied a basic meal.

Delivering the keynote address, Professor Vide Adedayo of the Department of Geography, UNILAG, described Nigeria as one of the world’s hunger hotspots, warning that food insecurity has escalated steadily between 2018 and 2024.

She noted that the country was operating a fragile system marked by low technology adoption, heavy dependence on food imports, climate pressure, weak data management and poor policy coordination.

According to her, the rising cost of living, the shrinking impact of existing agricultural policies and the intensifying effects of climate change are pushing more Nigerians into hunger. She added that up to half of the food produced in the country is wasted annually, even as millions remained food insecure.

Adedayo stressed that Nigeria must embrace a culture of innovation to meet the food needs of an estimated 401 million citizens by 2050, noting that innovation must span the full food chain.

She added that Nigeria’s vast agricultural land and youthful population were a strong base for transformation, noting that traditional farming practices such as agroforestry, crop rotation, composting, water harvesting and communal farming could be strengthened with technology for sustainability.

On policy alignment, Adedayo said, despite several existing frameworks, such as the Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, the National Adaptation Plan and the National Agri-Food System Investment Plan, implementation remained fragmented due to low public awareness. She called for the reform and relaunch of the Operation Feed the Nation initiative as a solution to rising urbanisation and household food insecurity.

The Chairman of the Lekki Urban Forest and Animal Shelter Initiative, Prof. Desmond Majekodunmi, linked the country’s deepening hunger burden to environmental crises, warning that depleted soils and climate-induced disruptions continue to undermine food production.

He said many environmental problems were human-induced, adding that sustainable farming must form the backbone of any long-term solution. Majekodunmi urged young Nigerians to embrace agriculture to improve national resilience and significant health benefits.

“The environmental issues, we brought them upon ourselves. But the key to solving them is ensuring that young people are inspired to go into agriculture because not only will they produce food, there are health benefits as well,” he said.

Head, Department of Social Work, UNILAG, Prof. Samuel Adejoh, said food insecurity was a major social welfare emergency requiring coordinated academic, community and policy responses. He said social work was crucial for community mobilisation, behaviour change, advocacy and strengthening support systems.

He stressed that universities must move beyond theory to produce solution-driven research that supports innovation, community resilience and sustainable development.

Founder of Comtrade Group, Abiodun Oladapo, warned that worsening insecurity is crippling food production and distorting rural economies. He said community-wide kidnappings have become frequent that entire villages now live in fear, leaving farmers unable to work freely or move their produce without heavy security.

He added that despite food prices rising from under N2,000 to nearly N100,000 within four years, farmers’ incomes have not grown proportionately, deepening poverty and discouraging investment.

A panelist, Adeyemi Adedayo, lamented the decline of practical agriculture in Nigerian schools, saying hands-on agricultural education would improve engagement, stimulate food production and equip young people with survival skills.

He argued that replacing edible crops with ornamental plants undermines food security efforts.

Adedayo called for curriculum reforms that prioritise practical farming, medicinal plants and local problem-solving, adding that universities must revive commercial agriculture.