Kalu Urges United Action to Tackle Food Insecurity

By Oluwakemi Kindness 

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has called for urgent and coordinated action by stakeholders across the agriculture value chain to address Nigeria’s food security challenges.

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on Thursday in Abuja, Kalu stressed that agriculture must be treated as a national priority, not a peripheral sector, describing it as central to economic stability, job creation, and social cohesion.

He said every job created in agriculture feeds a household, keeps young people productively engaged, and strengthens national stability.

Kalu in a statement by his CPS, Levinus Nwabughiogu, notes that increased farm productivity directly contributes to political and economic balance.

The Deputy Speaker urged farmers to organize, adopt modern technology, and scale up productivity, while calling on government at all levels and the private sector to take deliberate steps to transform the sector.

Addressing AFAN leadership, Kalu called for structured engagement with government through formal dialogue on key constraints, the development of sector-wide roadmaps for major commodities including maize, rice, poultry, and horticulture, and the creation of working groups focused on infrastructure, finance, technology, and market access.

He also challenged state governments to allocate at least five per cent of their budgets to agricultural infrastructure, adopt data-driven investment frameworks, and hold themselves accountable for agricultural output and job creation.

Kalu urged the private sector to increase investment in agro-processing, logistics, and market systems, while working with smallholder farmers as partners to build sustainable agricultural ecosystems capable of positioning Nigeria as a regional food powerhouse.

To farmers, the Deputy Speaker said they were not seeking charity but building wealth and feeding the nation, urging them to demand the infrastructure and services needed to succeed.

He noted that while Nigeria has the resources, policy environment, and partnerships to achieve food security, what remains lacking is unified will.

Kalu called on all stakeholders to demonstrate collective commitment and carry the momentum beyond the meeting to farms, businesses, communities, and constituencies across the country.