Nigeria is currently
ranked  38 among poverty stricken countries in the world, and 7th among the top nine West African Countries.
The revelation came to the fore recently during the 36th Inaugural lecture of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology by Professor Sunday Forth Giami.
In the lecture, titled “Food Security: The Challenge  of Feeding the Future,” Professor Giami stated that in both developed and developing countries, food insecurity is often linked to poverty.
Consequently, he continued, to understand  the magnitude of food insecurity in Nigeria, we must consider  the number of individuals below the poverty line.
Quoting data from the World Bank in 2014, the Professor of  Food Processing and Product Development  stated that 62% of Nigerians live  on less than 81.25 a day as at 2010.
The amount is the internationally recognised standard  for estimating poverty.
Professor Giami further stated  that another  82.2% of Nigerians live on less than two dollars a day.
“In fact, the poverty situation and the fear of possible food crisis in Nigeria has been given credence  by the current country’s poor ranking on the latest Global Hunger Index (GHI), which grouped the country as the  38th poverty -stricken  nation, with a high level of hunger threat with an index  of 14.7 compared with Ghana’s index of 7.5 and ranking 16″, he said.
Meanwhile, Nigeria also ranks 20th among  countries  with people with the highest undernourishment (3rd  in Africa),and 117th among countries with the  highest under fire  mortality rates (4th in Africa).
Explaining the importance of food security in every society, he noted that food security” is the basic  of human needs and is central to any discussion on energy security, civil society or  political security.
“Food features prominently in a raft of interrelated societal challenges associated with health, deprivation, novel technologies, national resource management, migration, and armed conflict.
“As a consequence, food (production, distribution, and processing) has rapidly become centre  stage in the world, and tomorrow’s issues are becoming todays,” he said.
He however, noted that the attainment of food security in Nigeria is feasible, given the abundant natural resources and diverse food crops  available in the country.
On way to ensure food security, according to the Professor, is to re-evaluate  a number of traditional food crops that are currently under utilized in Nigeria.