Youth & Policy Dialogue (YPD) Series

Date/Time

Date(s) – 05/03/2013
9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location

A2W Event Centre

Category(ies)
No Categories

Theme: FOOD SECURITY FOR A MEGA POPULATION

Panel  Topics ; 

1. 18million and Counting: Exploring Smart Choices to Keep Lagos on the track for MDG1
2. Food Production between Policy and Praxis: How Do We Make Voices Count in Agriculture Governance in Lagos State
3. A HungryMan na AngryMan: Let’s Make Naija Hunger Free

We are concerned that though Food Security -the availability, affordability and access to sufficient food (quality and quantity) to every citizen at all times- is critical to building Sustainable Societies, most African nations including Nigeria are yet to attain this. As the world’s population increase so the number of the hungry and so much so is the equity gulf. Currently, about 1 billion out of 7 billion people on the planet live with hunger and deprivation, and according the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) with the global population is estimated to rise to 9 billion by 2050, we need to increase global food production by 70%. Beyond and even much more than rising population, the major drivers of global food insecurity, which unfortunately hurt poor people almost exclusively are; the EQUITY gulf in the access to and distribution of the planets resources, mind boggling food wastage, climate change, unsustainable food production and distribution systems, unfair trade, problem of inclusion and gender discrimination as well as poor support to small scale women and men farmers among others.

For Africa and Nigeria, there are myriads of problems hindering the production and distribution of adequate food. Chief among these challenges include; ageing farming population (average farming age in Nigeria is about 60 years); poor use of technology and appropriate tools to maximize yield; poor investment in research and agriculture value chain; rapid (unplanned) urbanization; impact of climate change;   poor access to information, market, credit, climate services, agric-insurance, extension services and other incentives; gender discrimination; insufficient support to the smallholder farmers as well as inhibitive land tenure systems. All of these add up to make agriculture unattractive to young people -Africa’s greatest asset. It is therefore logical to imagine that Lagos State, being the most densely populated City State in Africa, an emerging mega city with land constraint and confronted by very rapid urbanization, would also have to contend with challenges at ensuring availability and affordability of good quality food to her burgeoning human population. So how do we ensure food security on a sustainable basis in Africa’s fastest emerging megacity?

This is what we shall be discussing at the 1^st (Hammattan Session) of the Youth and Policy Dialogue (YPD) series. The YPD series is a bi-annual programme that seeks to promote social dialogue, encourage civic participation in governance, and promote consultation, social inclusion and negotiation as basic and fundamental elements of SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES. The programme is designed with a deliberate bias for young people because of the enormous potential for good and development that reside in that segment of society, and also with the view to create a platform where young people, policy makers, opinion molders, experts as well as captains of industry can meet to share information and ideas that influence and promote good governance. The Youth and Policy Dialogue is a social platform that will explore the use of social media and the participation of well reputed youth icons from the media, entertainment, sports, government and business sectors to increase reach and participation. 

Please join our panel anchors; Ayoola Kassim of Channels TV, Tina Ogbonna of 103.5FM Radio 1 and Oluwaseun Olaniyan of 99.3FM NigeriaInfo

Register to join us at the venue or join us online via the internet. There shall be a live webcast of the event. Join us and Make your Voice Count!!!

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