The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) are calling for the development of sustainable agriculture and food security in Nigeria and Africa at large.

Justifying the need for the partnership, FAO said based on the continued increase of human population in Africa said by 2030, Africa will need to feed about 1.5 billion people and by 2050, close to 2 billion, hence agriculture needs to be more recognised for inclusive economic growth and food security in Africa.

The representative of FAO in Nigeria, Dr. Louise Setsehwaelo made this call during her keynote Lecture at the Africa Standardisation Day seminar organised by the African Organisation for Standardardisation (ARSO), in Abuja, stating that Africa’s economic growth needs to be inclusive.

She said, “African countries still need to do a lot more, both individually and collectively.  We have what it takes to move forward, we have the human capacity and other factors needed to drive the economy.

“Agriculture needs to be recognised for inclusive economic growth food security in Africa. Based on the continued increase of human population in Africa, by 2030, Africa will therefore need to feed about 1.5 billion people and close to 2 billion people by 2050.”

Also speaking, Director General, SON, Joseph Odumodu affirmed that Africa is the only continent that cannot feed itself fully. “We import some of our food to feed ourselves. It is not debatable if agriculture is important in Nigeria or Africa, agriculture provides food, employment and of course it contributes a lot to our GDP in Nigeria.

“We need a lot more collaborations with extension workers, people in agriculture. We need to adopt what we call good agricultural practice standards in Nigeria, to ensure that we create a better balance between what we do and the outcomes that we have currently in Nigeria and make agriculture very sustainable,” Odumodu explained.