The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, has said that agricultural biotechnology is key to ending hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria and Africa. The Professor dropped this hint at the ‘World Hunger Day’ dinner, organised by the Alliance for Science in collaboration with the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa, Nigeria Chapter, under the auspices of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Nairobi, Kenya.
He said the essence of the ‘World Hunger Day’ Dinner, is to honour farmers and raise awareness about the important role they play at ensuring food security, and at the same time, discuss the importance of National Farmers’ Day and how it can be implemented in the country, adding that “We are bringing together a cream of distinguished personalities to discuss ways of promoting sustainable agricultural practices that will support government efforts in addressing the challenges of food and nutritional security”.
Prof. Mustapha stated that the programme would highlight the importance of scientific innovations in tackling food crisis, stressing that agricultural biotechnology could play a significant role in ending hunger in the country. The Director, Agricultural Biotechnology Department of NABDA, Dr. Rose Gidado, while speaking, noted that one of the ways to address the issue of hunger and malnutrition, was by supporting and recognising the contributions of smallholder farmers, who grow crops and foods that are the backbone of the food systems in these countries.
While acknowledging that significant strides had been made at reducing hunger and malnutrition, she said much work still needed to be done, especially in the Global South. Gidado informed that the main objective of this initiative was to celebrate World Hunger Day by organising dinner for farmers in Nigeria. The World Hunger Day is observed on May 28th each year and was launched by the Hunger Project in 2011, as an opportunity to raise awareness about issues of hunger and food insecurity that affect millions of people around the world.
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