RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT AND FOOD SECURITY: LESSONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The six month old conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to high cost of food in many countries of the world and threatens global food security. Most countries of the world depend on grains and fertilizer from the warring countries for their sustenance. This includes countries in the Semi-arid Horn of Africa and even Nigeria. Nigerian industrial food processors depend heavily on wheat flour, maize flour and fertilizer supplies from the two embattled countries. Nigeria is richly blessed with arable land and citizens eager to unlock its food potentials. Unfortunately, this is far from being realized. Nigeria has no business depending on foreign countries for food. Instead Nigeria should be selling food to other countries. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the lessons we as
a country have learnt from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the causes and consequences of the neglect of agriculture and the need for a leadership that can defeat our security threats and engender industrial-scale agriculture for our food security and exports using the Political Economy Approach as guide.