As parts of its efforts to tackle economic hardship in Nigeria, two non-governmental organisations, FUND-YES Cooperative and Multi-Life Savers, have launched FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign.
The launching of the fundraising is coming amidst hardship and hunger planned protest expected to kick-start on the 1st August, 2024 by youths.
The FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign was launched in Lagos in order to globally generate and mobilise the funds needed to successfully implement the FOOD4ALL Initiative.
The kick-off ceremony of the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign was performed by Ambassador Josephine Ojiambo, a top diplomat who served in various top executive positions with the Government of Kenya, United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations.
Speaking at the event, Ojiambo said: “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 towards achieving Nigeria’s food security while tackling the ongoing food crisis, chronic unemployment, household poverty and economic hardship with a view to growing Nigeria into a prosperous economy.
“The FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign targets 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 called for global support and partnership for FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign. “I urge global donors and development partners to give their full support to the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign. Nigerians both home and across the diaspora must participate in this nation-building effort.
She said: “You all must invest in agricultural and food value chains, both in the startups and business growth. What is important is to add your own value in different ways. As you carry out these investments, millions of jobs are created, especially for youths and women, as a practical step towards mitigating unemployment and eradicating household poverty while achieving food security and making quality and healthy foods available and affordable. Governments at the federal and state levels must get involved in this program, as a matter of national priority and urgent necessity.”
While leading the unveiling prayer of the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign, popular Catholic cleric, Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, called for global support for the FOOD4ALL Fundraising Campaign.
Mbaka stressed the need for Nigerian youths to be agriculturally engaged, as the most viable means of generating mass employment, in addition to 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 continue.
“What does it take to give our people quality food? It is difficult today for most Nigerian families to afford gari, let alone rice. Yet Nigeria’s tens of millions hectares of fertile farmlands and its tens of millions of unemployed youths are wasting away. FOOD4ALL Initiative is the solution we need. It is the only way to fix Nigeria’s food crisis.
“I have earlier donated 2,000 hectares I am giving additional 1000 hectares and then another 470 hectares, which make a total of 3,470 hectares. I am 100% committed to FOOD4ALL Initiative and its implementation. I am already breeding not less than 500,000 fishes in my farm. This is the right way to go, if Nigeria must continue to exist.”
On his own part, the Chief Promoter of the Campaign, Comrade Kennedy Iyere, urged Nigerians to fully commit themselves to the implementation of FOOD4ALL Initiative.
According to him, it will be unwise at this point to fold our hands and do nothing about the worrisome food crisis, unemployment, household poverty and economic hardship presently experienced by millions of ordinary Nigerians.
“It is true that the federal government had failed in the implementation of its past agricultural intervention programs, namely ‘Operation Feed The Nation, Back To Land Agricultural Program, Green Revolution, Anchor Borrowers Program and NIRSAL.
“The failure of these programs is the reason for the country’s current food crisis and the existing high unemployment, household poverty and chronic economic hardship. It is very clear that Nigeria’s government lacks sincerity of purpose in the creation and implementation of its failed past agricultural and food intervention programs.
“The billions of Naira budgeted for these programs were looted by government officials, both elected politicians and top civil servants. These people brought the country to this ugly point where today the ordinary Nigerians do not only live in chronic economic hardship but also lack access to food and other basic necessities of life.
“Therefore, only Nigerians themselves are the ones to drive their own programs for agricultural development, food security, job creation, wealth building and economic self-emancipation. It is for this purpose that myself and Reverend Father Mbaka formed the FOOD4ALL Initiative through our NGOs,” Iyere said.
