Nigeria faces an imminent threat of hunger-induced anti-government protests expected to commence on August 1, 2024. These protests are being driven by angry youths who feel that both federal and state governments are insensitive to the acute hunger and economic hardship currently plaguing the nation. They have resolved to embark on a mass protest aimed at challenging the status quo of poor governance that has led to the country’s food crisis, acute hunger, and chronic economic hardship.
The prospect of this anti-hunger protest has generated significant tension and anxiety among Nigerians, particularly among top government officials and security agencies. There are concerns that if the protests proceed, they may be co-opted by opponents of the Tinubu-led government and escalate into a full-blown social revolution. Yet, amidst this climate of uncertainty, there remains a glimmer of hope. Two prominent Nigerian NGOs, FUND-YES Cooperative (a project of the Youths Off The Street Initiative) and MULTI-LIFE SAVERS FOR THE LESS-PRIVILEGED PEOPLE, have jointly proposed a solution to the acute food crisis and the chronic poverty currently affecting Nigeria. They have launched the FOOD4ALL Initiative, designed to finance, technically support, and create a network of forty million family-based smallholder farmers and food entrepreneurs through the cooperative agri-food entrepreneurship program known as the “One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme.”
To globally raise and mobilize the funds necessary for the successful implementation of the FOOD4ALL Initiative, the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign was launched in Lagos on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at the prestigious Radisson Blu, located on Ozumba Mbadiwe Way, Victoria Island. The launch event was performed by Her Excellency, Ambassador Dr. Josephine Ojiambo, a distinguished diplomat with experience in various high-ranking positions in the Government of Kenya, the United Nations, and the Commonwealth of Nations. She is also a senior executive official of Rotary International.
Ambassador Ojiambo is a celebrated diplomat who has served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, as Kenya’s Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Chief of the Executive Board and External Relations of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Additionally, she is a top executive of Rotary International and currently serves as the organization’s Official Representative to the United Nations, specifically to UNICEF and UNEP. At both the Commonwealth and United Nations levels, Ambassador Ojiambo has been deeply engaged in addressing significant national, African, and global issues. She is a member of the Governing Boards of several influential international charities, foundations, NGOs, advisory groups, and think tanks.
The FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign is designed to raise, generate, and mobilize funds globally for the implementation of the FOOD4ALL Initiative through its One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme, which aims to finance youth, women, and other smallholder and family farmers, as well as food entrepreneurs.
Our overall goal is to create, finance, and build a national grassroots network of twenty million smallholder farmers and food entrepreneurs. These efforts are targeted at achieving Nigeria’s food security while addressing the ongoing food crisis, chronic unemployment, household poverty, and economic hardship—all with a view to nurturing Nigeria into a prosperous economy. The FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign aims to raise Six Billion Dollars (US$6 Billion) for the execution of the FOOD4ALL Initiative and the One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme between 2024 and 2027.
Ojiambo calls for global support and partnership for the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign. “I urge global donors and development partners to fully support the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign. Nigerians at home and in the diaspora must participate in this nation-building effort. Everyone should invest in agriculture and food value chains, both in startups and in business growth. What matters is adding value in different ways. As these investments are made, millions of jobs will be created, especially for youths and women, serving as a practical step toward mitigating unemployment and eradicating household poverty while achieving food security and ensuring quality and healthy foods are both available and affordable. Governments at the federal and state levels must engage in this program as a matter of national priority and urgent necessity,” Ojiambo emphasized.
While leading the unveiling prayer for the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, a prominent Nigerian Catholic cleric, called for global support for the initiative. He emphasized the need for Nigerian youths to engage in agriculture as the most viable means of generating mass employment and achieving food security. “It is a known fact that a hungry man is an angry man, and an angry man is a dangerous man. This is why we must not allow the ongoing acute hunger crisis to persist,” Mbaka stated.
“What does it take to provide our people with quality food? Today, it is difficult for most Nigerian families to afford gari, let alone rice. Yet, Nigeria’s vast fertile farmlands and its millions of unemployed youths are going to waste. The FOOD4ALL Initiative is the solution we need. It is the only way to address Nigeria’s food crisis. I have previously donated 2,000 hectares; I am now giving an additional 1,000 hectares and another 470 hectares, making a total of 3,470 hectares. I am 100% committed to the FOOD4ALL Initiative and its implementation. I am currently breeding no fewer than 500,000 fish on my farm. This is the right path to take if Nigeria is to continue to exist,” Mbaka asserted.
On his part, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, the Chief Promoter of the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign, urged Nigerians to fully commit to the implementation of the initiative. According to him, it would be unwise at this juncture to stand idly by while millions of ordinary Nigerians suffer from the pressing issues of food insecurity, unemployment, household poverty, and economic hardship.
“It is true that the federal government has failed in implementing its past agricultural intervention programs, such as Operation Feed The Nation, the Back To Land Agricultural Program, the Green Revolution, the Anchor Borrowers Program, and NIRSAL. The failures of these programs have contributed to the current food crisis, high unemployment, household poverty, and chronic economic hardship. It is clear that Nigeria’s government lacks sincerity in the creation and implementation of its failed agricultural and food intervention programs. The billions of Naira budgeted for these initiatives have been looted by government officials, both elected politicians and top civil servants. These actions have led the country to this dire situation, where ordinary Nigerians not only endure chronic economic hardship but also lack access to food and other basic necessities. Therefore, it is the responsibility of Nigerians themselves to drive their own programs for agricultural development, food security, job creation, wealth building, and economic self-emancipation. It is for this purpose that Reverend Father Mbaka and I established the FOOD4ALL Initiative through our NGOs,” Iyere expressed.
