Fix Food First And Fast Or Forget It

 By Dele Sobowale

“There are people in the world, so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in form of bread” – Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

The great Indian leader and liberator made that remark before he was assassinated in 1948 at a time when his country, now divided into at least three nations, suffered from food scarcity worse than Nigeria is experiencing now. Certainly, it can also be said that there are millions of people in Nigeria today, so hungry that God cannot appear to them except either as a loaf of bread or a bowl of cooked rice. 

I was only four years old in 1948. So, I had to interview those far older than me to know how the food situation was like at the time – in addition to historical research. Surprisingly, Nigeria was then a net exporter of food at a time when almost 99 per cent of Nigerians were illiterates; when the University of Ibadan was just opening its doors to students.

All the Nigerian university graduates could not have been more than 1000. Today, UI alone graduates over 5,000 annually. All Nigerian universities throw more than 120,000 into the job market. What is the use of our famed “educated manpower” if we cannot feed ourselves now?

India, in the same period under review, has also sent tens of millions of graduates out of its universities; a lot more than we did. But, something interesting occurred. India, a formally food-deficit nation in 1948 has been transformed into a food exporter; while Nigeria, a former food-exporter is now a food-deficit nation, depending on others for our survival. We already know one reason why. Nigeria discovered oil; India did not. But, we continue to avoid mentioning a more fundamental reason. Educated Indians and their leaders are intelligent and Nigerians are not. Let me quickly explain.

“Food is national security, food is economy; it is employment, energy, history. Food is everything” – Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen

Most of us are even so ignorant about the characteristics of food, we don’t know that food is another definition of “stored energy as Jose Andre told us. The most powerful and richest can refuse to do a lot of things. None can refuse to eat.

Buhari taught me the importance of food security during his first time as Military Head of State in 1984-5. Like most city dwellers, I was contented to leave farming to the rural people – except for a brief period of experimenting with growing tomatoes and peppers on my balcony at Isolo Road in Lagos. By forcing food and beverage firms to go into farming to produce the raw materials needed for our businesses, Buhari got Lagos boys like me to confront the biggest challenge of mankind.

The long term survival of companies like Guinness and Nestle suddenly depended on farming and producing grains. Necessity, the mother of invention and learning took care of the rest. From wanting to grow sorghum for the brewery to feeding Nigerians with a variety of farm products was a short step. It was the sudden death of my eldest brother before reaching the age of 60, which made me the head of family which brought me to Lagos from Sokoto. By then it was clear to me that the future of Nigerian food production lies in the hands of better educated young people who could quickly learn about new developments in various aspects of food production and adopt them. But, first we have to stay on or near the farm. I was ready for that.

A brief experience while attending a Conference on poverty alleviation in India in 1983 immediately became useful. Some of the participants at the conference were just starting to promote the idea of urban farming – which at the time appeared like a joke given the vast acres of uncultivated land available everywhere. Few thought that population growth, the demands of economic development will shrink the land available for farming; and only by increasing yield per acre and adopting landless farming methods will the hundreds of millions of mouths added every year be fed.

Today, over 30 million urban and suburban farmers are producing more food than ever before. The sky is now literally the limit as tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and potatoes are now grown on the balconies of twenty-storey buildings. More people are getting into it. Penthouses, and flower beds now have sunflowers growing side by side with food items unlike before. Dried sunflower seeds make excellent vegetable oil.

What stops Nigerians from doing the same thing?

“Pride, the never failing vice of fools” – Alexander Pope, 1688-1744, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS P 200

Nigerians, especially Southerners, apart from collective stupidity, are too proud for our own good. There are some things we would not do – even if our lives depend on them. Farming is one. I lived with a friend from Osun State in Kano who had an official residence with half an acre of empty land in the backyard. He lived there for eight years alone before I moved in and only got the grass cut in the yard occasionally. 

When I went to the Kano State Agricultural Supply Company, KASCO, to obtain tomato, lettuce, pepper, okro, aliefo, and cucumber seeds, as well as implements, he was not the only one laughing. All of our friends, almost all graduates, visiting the house found it funny that a top Manager in a brewery would want to plant his own tomato. When I added native chicken and guinea foul, my nickname among friends became “Baba Agbe or old farmer” Six months after, the joke was on them. We were harvesting several food items and starting with four chicken, within six months the yard was over-run by chicken.

But, that was not the real story. Those whose backyards were larger than ours would come to our house to eat. None used the basic input into farming, LAND,   available to him to grow anything. When I asked them why? The answer was the same. “Food is so cheap in the North, why should I waste time growing mine?”

A few months ago I was back in Kano; and went to visit one of the old friends with a lot of land in the back of the house. Food is no longer so cheap in Kano; but, his backyard is still empty. Habits always are more powerful than reason.

Today, rural farming communities have been captured by bandits; millions of farmers have abandoned farms; yet, people with land in urban and sub-urban areas refuse to grow their own food. Everybody is waiting for governments; as if those people are the ones starving. I have bad news for all of us not in government. Even if a bag of rice goes up to N1 million, Aso Rock and residents of Governors’ mansions will still eat. The rest of us might starve to death; but, they will eat. Obviously, the only option left to us is to grow our own food; as much as possible, at home. It is even the best option; because, once started, we will never want to give up the self-reliance it fosters.

Is it possible? You might be asking. On my word of honour, it is. I am prepared to come to your place to prove it or send instructions on phone. Granted, not everybody can do it. Lagos Island is proving to be a tough nut to crack in this regard. But, even Jankara is not impossible to farm.

What should governments do?

Lead by example is a first step. The second is to ask for help to get the project started. There is a template for ensuring that within six months every state, local government and ward will feel the impact.

Thereafter, incrementally increasing the number of participants should get us to over one million urban farmers by this time next year. At 80+ I might not get there with you; but, we, as a people will reach the promised land of sustainable food security.

Believe me, there is hope.

*Dr. Sobowale is a commentator on public issues