The no hunger food banking programs serve as critical lifelines by distributing food to combat hunger in the north, writes GBADEBO ODULARU
Maternal and child hunger, along with the increasing inaccessibility of affordable, nutritious food, has reached an unbearable level among Nigerian families, particularly affecting the most vulnerable populations in northern Nigeria. This situation is exacerbated by political instability, soaring living costs, and inequities within economic systems. According to the Cadre Harmonise analysis, 33.1 million Nigerians will face hunger in 2025, seven million more than the same period in 2023. In addition, the Global Hunger Index 2024 gives Nigeria a score of 28.8, indicating a 'serious' level of hunger, such that in 2024 last quarter, 25.1 Nigerians experienced acute food insecurity. This disparity highlights the complex relationship between income, employment, opportunities, policies, and community development, as evidenced during the December 14 NHFB Temporary Food Assistance Programme (TFAP) outreach event at the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.
TFAP consists of two components: food boxes and cognitively oriented games. The mental games serve as a community development engagement intervention designed to foster cognitive growth in children, enhancing their learning proficiency in schools. Every NHFB TFAP outreach event implements these dual-pronged community engagement and hunger relief strategies.
The No Hunger Food Banking programs serve as critical lifelines, providing immediate relief by distributing food to combat hunger, stunting, and malnutrition in northern Nigeria. By redirecting post-harvest food from farmers to NHFB, beneficiary communities can reduce food loss while simultaneously addressing hunger. This dual approach, along with NHFB's essential support pillars through food banking, empowerment, and policy advocacy for economically disadvantaged Nigerians, fosters sustainable practices that benefit the environment. NHFB acts as a vital safety net for northern Nigerian communities, with its network encompassing hunger-relief interventions aimed not only at alleviating hunger but also at raising awareness about the systemic issues that contribute to it. Furthermore, NHFB implements a two-pronged, evidence-based food systems-led community engagement policy to support agri-food rescue through the NHFB food recovery programs and the Global Food Banking Network (GFN) food donation strategies.
The December 14 NHFB TFAP outreach event at the IDP camp was a timely initiative aimed at distributing TFAP boxes to the most vulnerable IDPs in the Durumi community of Abuja. The experience during the event revealed the complexities surrounding food shortages and food insecurity, as well as the malnourishment and stunting glaringly apparent among children, mothers, and the elderly. This experience prompted the NHFB Management to recognize the need for community-driven educational and empowerment innovations to enhance the food systems in northern Nigeria. One potential solution involves forging strategic partnerships between NHFB, northern Nigerian communities, select corporate organizations, and government agencies focused on hunger eradication. Specifically, the NHFB food drive strategy emphasizes the importance of collective action in overcoming the hunger challenges faced by vulnerable Nigerian communities. NHFB believes that the success of its food drive operations fundamentally determines how effectively Nigeria will address hunger and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) two.
During the December 14 TFAP event, upon arriving at the Durumi IDP Camp, I observed that other foundations were providing non-food services and meal interventions for the IDP children. Since TFAP represents a two-week hunger-relief program, the presence of other NGOs did not deter the NHFB Leadership and President from fulfilling its humanitarian role to the beneficiaries as planned. NHFB implemented its TFAP boxes distribution toolkits as outlined in its distribution manual.
The interrelationship between NHFB's goals and my community engagement responsibilities continues to play a pivotal role in addressing maternal and child hunger while developing viable community resilience initiatives to tackle hunger, unemployment, and socioeconomic issues. Despite well-planned and coordinated food banking operations like the NHFB TFAP event, the food bank still confronts complexities and hidden uncertainties in its food distribution, while ongoing supply chain challenges remain increasingly surmountable--that is a key aspect of my role as the food bank community engagement manager.
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NHFB recognizes that hunger constitutes a profound community engagement challenge, particularly in northern Nigerian communities facing heightened displacement, alarming rates of out-of-school children, socioeconomic disparities, climate change, relatively higher illiteracy levels, social unrest, banditry, cultural diversity, and declining collective community initiatives. NHFB's multifaceted, community engagement-led food drives and nutrition education advocacy tools offer solutions for addressing hunger-related problems and mobilizing action to support Nigeria's growing homeless populations. As we prepare for the next TFAP event on January 5th, we must acknowledge the vital role of NHFB's collective efforts, including food drives and agricultural rescue initiatives, in combating food insecurity within our community. NHFB is committed to deploying an integrated solution to realize a resilient and safe Nigerian food system while promoting access to nutritious food that is affordable and widely available.
Odularu is President, No Hunger Food Bank, Abuja
