By Tanimu Salihu

As part of measures to ensure food security and avert the worsening food crisis in Nigeria, the House of Representatives has inaugurated a committee on nutrition and food security.

The committee which is the first of its kind in the history of the Green Chamber was part of the effort of the House leadership to help address nutritional challenges and the looming food crisis in Nigeria.

At the inauguration in Abuja, the Speaker House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abbas emphasized that food security was significant to the security and socioeconomic development of every nation.

Dr Tajudeen explained that the inauguration of the committee becomes necessary to provide a legislative response to the worsening food insecurity and malnutrition in the country through effective oversight of policies and programmes.

The speaker represented by the House Majority Leader, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, pointed out that the task of the committee requires urgent measures in the face of rising food prices and high cost of living occasioned by the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products.

“The position of the House is to improve food and nutrition for our people. In our resolve as a House to tame hunger and malnutrition, pursue food security and sustainable development”, he explained.

“We prioritized agricultural development as a key legislative agenda based on our strong belief that the agricultural sector is a critical factor in growing the nation’s economy and scaling down the poverty rate” the Speaker noted.

The Chairman of the Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Dr. Chike Okafor, said the House would convene a Food Security Summit as part of deliberate measures to address food challenges in Nigeria.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, who emphasized that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is concerned about the food situation, said concerted efforts have been put in place to address the challenges of nutrition and food security in Nigeria.

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