Food Insecurity in

Nigeria
Miles D., Chukwuma O., Ismael A., Matthew M.
 Issues/Sources of Food Insecurity

Half the nation is extremely impoverished

Massive nationwide food shortage

Price gouging of common foods due to scarcity

Civil unrest

Corruption

Most populated country in Africa

No access to modern technologies

 Narrative of Everyday Life

Poverty is widespread in Nigeria, specifically in the rural areas. A

large portion of the population is reliant on subsistence farming for
their dietary needs. Most people surviving on less than what is equal
to $1.25 a day with 80% living below the poverty line. The country is
reliant on imported food such as grain and fish. There is also a lack of
infrastructure that adds to the impoverished situation of the rural
subsistence farmers. Farmers also raise cattle such as goats because
they fit in Nigerias climate well and provide quality meat. Drought is
also a common occurrence in the north part of the country, while
flooding is an issue in the south.
 Toll of Food Insecurity on the Body

Food insecurity leads to a massive nutritional deficiency of the

majority of the population of Nigeria. Nutritional deficiency in
pregnant women causes newborns to lack important micronutrients
such as Iron, Vitamin A, and Iodine which augments Nigerias infant
mortality rate, as well as the total of undernourished and
underweight children.
 What can be done to Help?
What can be done to help the citizens of Nigeria is to build natural
food domes that can supply healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, and
protein. To do this, there needs to be heavy investment in technology
and education, as well as, stopping government corruption. Low
income, impoverished families would receive these assets in order to
improve their everyday life. To fix the flooding, infrastructure needs
to be constructed to combat the flooding and use the collected water
for irrigation.
Social Injustice

Economic disparity

Religious and ethnic tensions

Government corruption

Violence against women

Sectarian conflict
Geographic Division
 Conclusion

One engineering based solution that would help Nigerians and

increase their quality of life is to research, develop, and deploy
inexpensive and natural food domes. This project could be funded by
worldwide donations with help from the UN.

One non-engineering solution that could help Nigerians is for a

handful of countries to research and analyze the root, cause, and
solution for the civil unrest that takes place in Nigeria and contribute
to finding a compromise, to end the unrest.
Sources

Murdock, H. (2012, April 27). Nigeria tries to curb appetite for imported food.
Globalpost. Retrieved from
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/nigeria/120423/decrease-food-imports-increas
e-food-security

Otaha, I.J. (2013, September). Food insecurity in Nigeria: Way forward. African
Research Review. 7 (4), 26-35. Retrieved from
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/afrrev/article/viewFile/96670/86004

USAID. (2013, March). Nigeria food security update. Famine Early Warning System
Network (FEWS Net). Retrieved from
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Nigeria%20Food%20Security%20Updated%20M
arch%202013.pdf