Recent reports suggest an imminent threat of hunger in several countries of the West African sub-region. Persistent drought in the region partly accounts for this. Because of the resulting poor harvests and soaring food prices, some West African countries are already experiencing the hunger crisis. According to its 2010 report, the British charity Oxfam, said that it had already launched emergency appeal for seven million pounds sterling to help about 800,000 people threatened by hunger in different countries of the sub-region.

The Oxfam report warns of a worsening situation that may likely affect up to 10 million people in the Sahel region of West Africa. Niger Republic, which is already hard hit by the hunger crisis, has up to seven million people directly facing the scourge. Some of the people already eat leaves and dirty water to survive, while livestock die daily due to lack of food.

While the Oxfam report has not specifically listed Nigeria among the countries directly in the line of the hunger scourge, we cannot consider ourselves immune to a situation which has so terribly affected our neighbours. Not only are we forced to bear the brunt of the influx of hungry migrants from Niger and Chad, we also have to worry about having the same climatic conditions that made our neighbours prone to hunger. Drought is a regular occurrence in states like Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara as well as others neighbouring Niger and Chad republics. In the same vein, desertification is another environmental disaster that affects Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe and other states.

Federal and state governments must rise to the challenge of this emerging hunger crisis by reviving the numerous dams that were scattered all over the North and were used in the past for irrigation farming and provision of water. Most of them have dried up and there seems no indication that the authorities are considering to do something about them. The time to revive them is now. There are also a number of uncompleted dams whose construction had been stalled for one reason or the other; the authorities concerned must hasten their completion to facilitate greater farming in these areas.

In addition, governments at all levels should prioritise the provision of social amenities in the rural areas of the country to encourage young, able-bodied youth to stay at home and engage in full-time farming. Already the age-long rural-urban migration is taking its toll on subsistence farming, with most youth abandoning it to come to the cities in search of menial jobs and street-trading opportunities. As a country that is largely fed by subsistence farmers, this rural-urban drift must be reversed to prevent a hunger crisis induced by the abandoning of the vocation.

The Federal government must stop paying lip service to agricultural development. To achieve that objective, it must provide genuine support to farmers through subsidy on farming implements and input, and demonstrate real commitment to making the vocation attractive by introducing modern farming methods and tools. As it is, about 70% of our arable land is uncultivated. With enough support and encouragement from government, the youths can be mobilised to embrace farming and cultivate enough to feed our nation as well as set aside excess produce for export, and at the same time check this looming hunger threat.

The first step to realising this is to fight the corruption in the agricultural sector by appointing people of integrity and commitment to provide the needed leadership. The fight against desertification and drought should be embarked upon with all seriousness. There should be no more empty promises to the Nigerian farmer, who should see government's interest in his affairs in practical terms. The Oxfam report should be a wake-up call to government and citizens alike to rise and fight this impending hunger, otherwise we may ourselves become another set of statistics in the next report of the NGOs.