FOOD?...

2012 is a year that was marked with extreme weather conditions across the world and experts are saying this could lead to hike in food prices and possible shortage in 2013.

In poor countries of the world people are already experiencing food shortage.
I read a story on CNN.com and I was moved to tears...  A woman in Yemen and mother of six says, she ties a scarf around her stomach when she gets hungry because there isn't enough to go round her and the kids.

I quickly imagined the half eaten plates of food we haul to the trash not mindful of the people several doors away who would do anything for our left overs.

I attended a wedding (2 actually) at the weekend (you know how extravagant Nigerian weddings get) and we all were guilty of picking through our food; a woman beside where I was didn't even want the little boys scavenging the left overs to pick her half eaten plate of jollof rice and chicken wing that sat on the table abandoned for close to 15mins...''will you disappear from here?! haah this children no get mannas oh'' I saw the boys scramble away licking their hands from the sauce they had eaten from my leftovers.

This food shortage experts are saying is a result of climate change, corruption, rising energy costs and extreme weather among several other reasons.
The year has been a tough one for farmers across the world with rains pouring longer than necessary; intense heat, drought and flooding.Farmers are already fearing poor yields.
 "Putting a stop to food price crisis requires a radical new approach to the way we grow, share and manage food," Oxfam's Colin Roach
Adaptation methods like irrigation farming (In Africa) and planting genetically modified seeds are being used to salvage the situation.

With Nigeria's 170 million population, about 635million naira is spent on wheat import and another one billion naira on rice imports every year.(Debisi Araba S.A min of Agric) we can only guess what impact such amounts could have on our Agricultural sector.

 The question on my mind is, don't we or can't we grow rice and wheat? must we import?
I remember when Agriculture was the main stay of Nigeria (well i wasn't born then), then the oil boom happened and everyone forgot how to till the ground and Operation feed worked while it lasted.
This festive season for me will be with a little bit of caution and sharing...cos someone close needs a meal to sleep well tonight...