“Hunger is not seasonal, so farming should not be seasonal”, a quote by Samson Ogbole. Over the years, the world has experienced population explosion, causing an increase in the demand for food. Thus, the need for increased food production.

there must be a strong political will to support policies to make irrigation infrastructure available, accessible and affordable to smallholder farmers, even in the most remote areas

In developing countries, rain-fed farming has been a practice and the largest portion of food produced has been during the rainy season. This is one of the factors that cause food price fluctuations, as the supply of food is high during the rainy season, but low during the dry season, when only few farmers are engaged in farming. It is very important that food production is sustained throughout the year at an appropriate quantity in order to achieve food security.

Adopting irrigation for the dry season should be a normal practice amongst smallholder farmers. Therefore, developing local capacities to build efficient irrigation infrastructure is of utmost importance, especially for smallholder farmers. Also, there must be a strong political will to support policies to make irrigation infrastructure available, accessible and affordable to smallholder farmers, even in the most remote areas.

In conclusion, there is hunger in the land, where food is becoming expensive and unaffordable due to the seasonal production of it. Other factors are making the issue worse. Achieving food security should not be a lip service, but a deliberate effort to address the root cause to make food readily available in the right quantity and quality, and at the time when it is needed. We all need to be involved and the time to be involved is now. Don't forget, hunger is not seasonal.

Yours-in-service

Babatunde

Irrigation facility of a farm in Delta State, Nigeria