INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR
ATTAINING FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Franklin Ouvolelolo Okorodudu, G. O. Eloho, B. Ossai

► To cite this version:

Franklin Ouvolelolo Okorodudu, G. O. Eloho, B. Ossai. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR ATTAINING FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA. 13th International Conference of the Nigeria Computer Society NCS, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Jun 2017, Chida International Hotel Abuja-FCT, Nigeria. pp.116-123. [https://doi.org/10.1186/s41457-017-04680-2](https://doi.org/10.1186/s41457-017-04680-2)

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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR ATTAINING FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

F. O. Okorodudu

School of Applied Sciences,
Department of Computer Science,
Delta State Polytechnics, Otefe-Oghara,
Delta State, Nigeria.

G. O. Eloho

School of Applied Sciences,
Department of Computer Science,
Delta State Polytechnics, Otefe-Oghara,
Delta State, Nigeria.

B. Ossai

School of Applied Sciences,
Department of Computer Science,
Delta State Polytechnics, Otefe-Oghara,
Delta State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT

In the face of rising pressure from climate change, rising populations and decreasing crop yields, Nigeria is faced with the task of confronting the critical challenge of efficiently delivering sustainable and healthy diets for her citizens. However, the poor performance of Nigeria's agricultural sector has been attributed to the insufficient application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which has resulted to poor food availability and poor access and utilization problems at the household and national levels. ICT is required to successfully combine secure sustainable food systems through the application of innovative digital technologies that take into account the interactions between food and agricultural systems with broader industrial systems. This paper therefore outlines the possible roles of ICT as a tool for attaining food security and sustainable development of Nigeria. The paper advocates for a rapid action to harness the contributions of ICT towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a precursor to achieving food security.

Keywords: Food security, Food availability; Information technology, Sustainable development, Crop yield, Nigeria.
# 1. INTRODUCTION

Agriculture accounts for 17.8% of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015 and supports 70% of the total population hence it is a major source of livelihood in Nigeria (NBS, 2015).

The performance of the agricultural sector especially as it relates to food security has been abysmal despite the fact that it is a growing sector in Nigeria's economy with a mean annual growth rate of 6.3% (Olaniyi et al, 2016). Currently, the world is facing increasing populations, limited crop yields and large amounts of waste both within the food supply chain and by consumers in western economies. It is expected that world population would have reached 9.1 billion in 2050 by what time an estimated food production increase of 70% to feed an additional over 2.2 billion people (UN/DESA, 2016).

However, contrary to popular beliefs and expectations, merely increasing production of existing crops alone is unlikely sufficient to achieve overall food security. Previous solutions to these issues involved increasing agricultural productivity. Unfortunately, again, the approach of increasing agricultural productivity has led to a mirage of other issues such as the extension of monocultures and a significant loss of agro biodiversity and increased washing away of the top soil. These human interventions in the natural environment has thus created and combined a complex interaction of climatic change, constraining the productivity of existing agricultural techniques and leading to poor crop yield and consequently, the challenge of food security (Guardian newspapers, 2014). Hunger and poverty have been twin issues that have ravaged the world leading to the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the year 2000 by the then 189 member states of the United Nations. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), being the leading agency for ICT, has, overtime, sought to promote the use of ICT to address emergency situations and food security as increased access to and use of ICTs to address urgent issues as it relates to food security as it plays a key role in the agricultural industry (Olivier, 2014).

However, efforts by these bodies and agencies to employ these tools have not been sufficiently widespread enough to adequately tackle the need of the populace and ensure adequacy of food. Key factors such as legal framework, technology, markets and policy formulations etc have to be considered to adequately address food security. Available statistics on the MDGs show that the 15-year life span of the objectives did not fully achieve its targets hence the need to reformulate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which came into force early last year.

Three pillars, according to a World Bank report, are fundamental to food security. These are: food availability, food accessibility and food utilization. By extension, any country whose food production level is unable to satisfy these three fundamentals are food insecure. In most developing countries like Nigeria, ICT use has only been limited to one aspect which is food production that leads to food availability, but for the other dimension, a clause exist. ICT can be used to avail effective and relevant information concerning food accessibility and absorption to attain a satisfying state of food security and agricultural sustainability if well planned, (FAO, Brussels, 2000). The trust of this paper therefore is to correlate food security and information technology as necessary agents for attaining the new sustainable development goals as put forward by the United Nations in November 2015 so as to attain the status of a secure country.

# II. FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW

## a. Food Security

Two issues of profound importance lie at the heart of current thinking about the development of global societies: the challenge of food security, and the potential of attaining food security through sustainable development. Food is the basic need and necessity of life that must be satisfied before any other developmental issue. Inadequate nutrition is considered as a measure of poverty in many societies or a substitute to poverty (Datt et al, 2000). According to (Helen, 2002), food security helps to make for a stable political society and ensures that citizens are law abiding while food inadequacy or food insecurity results not only to poor health but
also to social unrest and political instability. Hence, the world food summit defines food security as 'a situation when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life' (World Food Summit, 2003).

Further to the above, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), "food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life." (FAO, Rome, 2006). Implicit in this definition is the recognition of the fact that food security is multi-dimensional. In recognition of the multi-dimensional view point of food security, the Committee on World Food Security identified four main dimensions or pillars' of food security (FAO Sweden, 2014). **Availability:** This can be ensured with adequate production of food made available to final consumers.

**Access:** This can be assured if all individuals and households have sufficient resources to buy food when they need them to ensure adequate nutrition.

**Utilization:** This can be assured when the human body is able to ingest and metabolize food. Nutritious and safe diets, an adequate biological and social environment, and a proper health care to avoid diseases help achieve adequate utilization of food.

**Stability** can be assured when the three other pillars are maintained over time.

Experts have noted the need for a pillar on environmental sustainability, where food production and consumption patterns do not deplete natural resources or the ability of the agricultural system to provide sufficient food security (Craig, 2013). Therefore, for the purpose of this paper, five pillars of food security is as identified in the figure 1 below.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1. Pillars of food security</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
b. Sustainable Development

The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This definition contains within it two key concepts: one is the concept of 'needs,' in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the other is the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization, on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

Although the definition of sustainable development emerged forms an international enquiry into the
relationship between environment and development, it is not concerned primarily with the environment but

with the sustainability of the overall developmental context. While the definition of sustainable development emerged from an international enquiry into the relationship between environment and development, it is not concerned primarily with the environment but with the sustainability of the overall developmental context. On the 25th of September 2015, 193 Member States of the United Nations came together and adopted the SDGs as a direct replacement for the MDGs which phased out after the 15 year period elapsed. The SDGs is a set of 17 objectives and 169 targets which is expected to guide actions of governments, international agencies, civil societies and other institutions over the next 15 years (2016- 2030). The ambitious 2030 Agenda is a global vision for people, for the planet and for long-term prosperity. The SDGs is a plan to make the future better unto a sustainable and resilient course that will lead to a transformation in the standard of living and chart a course for a more inclusive and dynamic pathway to development. It has been argued and rightly so by scholars that the new SDGs are more ambitious than the MDGs. While the MDGs helped to halve extreme poverty, the SDGs aims to end it. While MDGs focused on the poorest countries, the SDGs engage all nations in a shared, universal agenda. The MDGs prioritized prosperity and inclusion while the SDGs takes cursory look at environmental sustainability as a fundamental pillar of global wellbeing. These goals are achievable, but they require a breakthrough in both the speed and degree of progress.

III. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND FOOD SECURITY

Agricultural productivity is a measure of the amount of agricultural output produced for a given amount of inputs, such as an index of multiple outputs divided by an index of multiple inputs, (FAO, Sweden, 2014)

Agricultural technologies that can increase food security in developing countries have existed for decades yet these countries continue to be live in hunger and poverty. The reason for this is not far-fetched. Farmers are faced with a number of challenges yet these problems have workable solutions, but the global difficulty is getting the appropriate information to farmers which is pertinent in ensuring food security in Nigeria. To benefit from knowledge, one should be able to acquire existing knowledge, produce new knowledge and apply this knowledge to foster development. In the light of the above, ICT must meet the needs of the local people in sharing the indigenous and the acquired knowledge. This will solve the challenges and lead to increased agricultural productivity, increased awareness and sharing of information that will eventually ensure food security for all in the country.

Tackling the issue of hunger and malnutrition is not only about boosting agricultural productivity but also has to do with increasing income and creating a resilient food system that will strengthen markets so that people can safely access safe and nutritious food to feed the increasing hunger and starvation that is ravaging the human race.

IV. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD SECURITY IN RURAL AREAS

ICT is an existing and widely deployed technology that can be mobilized to step up the pace and scale of transformation in the rural areas. ICT can play a key role in delivering an innovative and integrated cross sectorial
sustainable development outcome. According to ITU, the transformational potential of ICT can be used as a means of implementing the SDGs using the UN Broadband Commission for sustainable development, (Broadband Commission, 2014). ICT can also deliver innovation, connectivity, productivity and efficiency across all sectors in remote areas and strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure in the process

Scholars have however argued that the traditional ways of communication have been monologue in nature and have not allowed much interaction with users. An important area of innovation in ICT is by combining different ICTs in order to deliver a more complete communication package. New ICTs have to be linked to traditional communication forms in order to meet identified needs and reach out to specific groups who have been shut across from information access that could increase their agricultural productivity. The realization of the opportunities offered by ICTs for rural development, agricultural sustainability and food security requires a culture of information and new skills, (FAO Rome, 2016).

A critical factor in meeting the challenge of ensuring food security among rural households in developing countries like Nigeria is human resource development through knowledge building and information sharing (Murithii, 2009). According to (Rafea, 2009), there is a general lack of relevant and accurate information on production practices, farm management, prices of agricultural products and food security dimensions for agricultural products that can better the lots of farmers.

# V. INTEGRATING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The abilities of ICTs on food security and sustainable development can be linked with improving communication between research systems, farmers, information regarding inputs and introducing technologies to provide more rapid accessibility to high quality information. This will help to ensure that accurate information are optimized for agricultural product sales to increase agricultural products and decrease agricultural product losses (Temu et al, 2004).

ICT can dramatically boost the uptake of SDGs in five major ways:

## 1. Speed and Scale of ICT Uptake

ICT itself diffuses with remarkable speed and at a global scale; the digital transformation has already begun. Mobile subscriptions went from a few tens of thousands in 1980 to over 7.4 billion subscriptions in 2015. Facebook users skyrocketed from a few users 2004 when the platform was launched to 1.5 billion users in mid2015. According to projections, mobile broadband will cover more than 90 percent of the world's population and go from almost one billion subscribers in 2010 to 7.7 billion subscriptions by the year 2021. Smartphones use is expected to grow from near-zero subscriptions in 1999 to around 6.4 billion subscriptions by 2021

## 2. Reduced Deployment Costs

ICT can also help to reduce the cost of deploying new services. ICT also enables students to access quality online teaching even when no qualified teachers are locally available. Online finance allows individuals to obtain banking services even in regions where no banks are present. This shows that ICT is introducing vital services for low income countries like Nigeria. A continuation in this direction will make more farmers to get the needed information and increase productivity.

## 3. Growth of public awareness

In the past, information on new technologies spread by word of mouth, local demonstration, and gradual scale-up of government programs and services. Now, with torrents of information flowing in real time through the internet, social media, mobile communications and other channels, information travels instantly around the
globe in the shortest of times. News, music, fashion and new technologies revolve around the world in days, not decades, making it easier to reach more people in a shorter timeframe. **4 Rapid upgrade rate**

Global information flows are enhanced and technology developers are much more attuned to advances in other parts of the world. There is a trend towards many ICT applications becoming open-source—or at least interoperable—which enables gains made by a developer in one part of the world to be picked up and built on by others on the other side of the globe, accelerating the whole process of technology upgrade. The growing speed of the global innovation cycle is shortening the duration of each technology generation, especially for ICT-based solutions, meaning progress happens faster.

**5. Low-cost digital training**

Another major way that ICT can accelerate technology diffusion is by providing low-cost online platforms for training workers, students and others in these new technologies. Special training materials are also being delivered conveniently over smart phones, tablets, laptops and other devices. Deploying multiple channels for training materials makes it easier to provide workers with real-time, in-service training that does not disrupt work schedules but integrates training into the work itself. In this way, ICT-hosted training modules and courses provide a means to train millions of workers, especially young and under-employed workers, in the uses of new ICT applications for SDG-oriented service delivery.

## VI. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN FOOD

### SECURITY PROMOTION AND SUSTAINABILITY

**a. Local Radio and Mobile Phones** The use of community radio is an old form of communication channel that has been in use for decades. Local radio helps rural communities to access information that they need to improve their farm yield. Hence local community radios have been recommended over time for use in promoting all food security and agricultural sustainability dimensions in rural communities. Also, mobile phones can aid in the delivering of complete and current information about market prices. With the use of ICT, information can be delivered in a timely fashion.

**b. Extension Agents** Extension agents play a critical role in ensuring that needed information about current trends in food production gets to farmers in an efficient and timely manner. Extension agents also provide a forum through which farmers can access information concerning food production, planning and food marketing.

#### c. The Internet

Internet use in accessing information concerning; crop varieties, increased yields, prices and makers, food production and other agricultural issues is key to ensuring food security. If farmers are able to use the internet in sharing information, it will lead to improved production, marketing and economy growth.

#### d. Training and Retraining of Local Farmers

With the right information, local farmers are as civilized and up to date as urban dwellers. Thus, governments, through its agents such as the FADAMA operators must ensure that constant training and retraining of local farmers is carried out to enlighten them on the current trends in agricultural farming. This will go a long way in bringing us nearer to attaining ample food production that will lead to food sustainability and eradicating hunger and poverty.

#### e. Grants

A key challenge to rural farmers is the challenge faced in securing loans from money agencies. Theses farmers have little or nothing to tender in return for a loan which makes it herculean for them to get grants to farm on a
large scale basis. If the world is to be hunger free by 2030 as anticipated by the sustainable development goals, then, effort must be made to ensure that rural farmers are able to access loans without much ease.

## VII. CONCLUSION

We have submitted, from the above, that ICT and food security are essential platforms for the attainment of the SDGs. While this is recognized in the 2030 dateline Agenda for sustainable development, ICT is neither systematically nor adequately reflected in the individual goals and subsequent targets. Rapid action is thus needed to harness the contribution that ICT can make toward the achievement of the global goals. Fully embracing the potential of ICT is therefore a key ingredient to achieving food security and subsequently the SDGs so as to fast track the attainment of the setout goals by 2030, and possibly to even accelerate their achievement. Beyond goals and targets, efforts must be made to address the means of implementation, monitoring and financing of means of boosting food security in the country. Researches in the area of boosting food security through the use of ICT must be given top priority so as to fast track and support the continued development of SDGs as Nigeria move to formulate national targets and strategies for its full implementation.

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