Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised the country’s deepening hunger crisis, insisting that the country has no justification for ranking among the world’s hungriest nations despite its vast natural and human resources. Speaking at the Sahel Food Systems Changemakers Conference held in Abuja on Thursday, Obi said, “You can’t talk about anything if your people cannot have a healthy meal.” The conference organised by Sahel Consulting, with the theme “Designing for Legacy: Building Impact-Driven Food Systems,” brought together policymakers, business leaders, and experts to discuss sustainable solutions to food insecurity.
Describing the situation as “very regrettable,” Obi argued that the country’s fertile land and youthful population should make it self-sufficient in food production. “I have always said Nigeria has no reason to be among the hungriest countries in the world. “We have vast unfortified land. We have youths that, if supported, can help change the system,” he said. Drawing comparisons with Bangladesh, Obi noted that the smaller Asian country produces far more rice than Nigeria despite its limited size. Obi explained, “Bangladesh produces 50 to 60 million tons of rice, and two of our biggest states are about the same size as Bangladesh. “With the vast land in the North, we can feed ourselves.” The former governor of Anambra State added that agriculture could surpass oil as a major revenue earner if given proper attention. “We can make more money from agriculture than from oil any day, any time,” Obi said.
In her keynote address, the Chief Executive Officer of the ONE Campaign, Ndidi Nwuneli, warned that hunger in Nigeria is worsening, leaving millions unable to afford basic meals. “People are down to one-zero-one in many parts of Nigeria,” she said. Nwuneli described the fall in life expectancy from 57 to 54 years as “shocking” and blamed weak food systems and poor coordination across sectors. “Our indicators in the food ecosystem mirror countries like Sudan and Somalia. “When this country can feed Africa and the world, what is holding us back? I ask myself what have we achieved as an ecosystem?” She asked.
The CEO called for a unified national agenda focused on child nutrition and stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the crisis. The Managing Partner of Sahel Consulting, Temitope Adegoroye, said the conference’s theme was chosen to stimulate honest conversations about long-term sustainability. He questioned the impact of donor-driven agricultural programmes, noting that many fail once external funding ends. “Too often, sustainability is treated as an exit strategy. It must be the starting point — a lens through which we design every programme, policy, and partnership,” Adegoroye said. He added that meaningful progress would depend on local ownership of agricultural systems. “Legacy is not built by one organisation or one funder. It is built by all of us,” he said.
Participants at the event — representing diverse stakeholders from the agricultural and development sectors — examined strategies to strengthen food systems that can withstand economic disruptions and promote long-term food security. Nigeria is currently experiencing one of its severe hunger and food insecurity crises in decades. The Global Hunger Index 2025 ranks the country 115 out of 123 countries. According to the World Food Programme, conflict and insecurity, rising inflation, and the effects of the climate crisis continue to fuel hunger across Nigeria, leaving 30.6 million people acutely food insecure. Data from the International Trade Administration shows that agriculture remains Nigeria’s largest economic sector, contributing nearly 24 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd. is an African advisory firm that partners with governments, private sector players, and development organizations to drive transformation in agriculture and nutrition across the continent.
