The executive director of the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Celestine Ikuenobe, on Friday, bowed out after a five-year tenure.

Mr Ikuenobe, in his valedictory lecture, said that over 140 million people in Africa are facing acute food insecurity, adding that one out of every five Africans goes to bed hungry.

In the lecture titled “Riding the Crest in Time, Tide and Stage”, Mr Ikuenobe stated that the 2022 global hunger index showed that many African countries suffered severe to alarming hunger.

“On average, farmers in sub-Africa practice inefficient farming methods, which do not enable them to produce enough food and earn decent incomes.

“These farmers also grapple with the use of poor seeds, fragile soil, weak access to inputs, all stacking against them in producing enough food for a growing population,” he said.

According to him, the hunger index in Nigeria has been on a downward trend since the turn of this millennium.

Mr Ikuenobe also disclosed that the food insecurity in the nation was occasioned by very poorly resourced research, including poor and unstable funding, poor infrastructure and human resource capacity.

He noted that the nation’s research system needed to be retooled and strengthened to deliver innovations and knowledge to deliver a vibrant agricultural sector.

He further stated that despite the weak performance of agriculture in Nigeria over time, the sector had benefited from research and innovation outcomes of the national agricultural research system.

“The outcomes Include improved crop varieties, animal breeds, production and processing methods,” he added.

The outgoing executive director thanked NIFOR staff for their unalloyed, unpretentious love and extreme sacrifice devoid of deception during his tenure.

Also speaking, Gov. Godwin Obaseki, represented by the commissioner for agriculture and food security, Stephen Idehenre, commended Mr Ikuenobe for his dedication to ensuring the growth of the oil palm sector in the state.

Mr Obaseki noted that NIFOR’s advice led to the setting up of the state oil palm programme, where about 62,000 hectares of land had been allocated to investors in the state for oil palm plantation.

(NAN)