By Matthew Eloyi
The United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) is collaborating with the Nigerian government and stakeholders in the country’s agronomy and poultry industry in hosting a nutrition and food security forum titled “Nigeria Now,” aimed at increasing access to health and nutritional food in Nigeria.
According to the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, the initiative shows its commitment to supporting innovative agricultural collaboration that promotes nutrition and food security in the country.
In a statement made available on Friday, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria said more than 8,000 people from the international poultry industry, including the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, attended the event, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaking at the event, Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, Gerald Smith, explained that the forum would enhance collaboration and enable Nigerian industry stakeholders to meet the country’s vision for nutrition and food security.
Remarking, CEO of USSEC, Jim Sutter, underscored the need for a shared priority that will enable nutrition and food security for families, communities and countries around the world, and more specifically to improve access to healthy and nutritional food.
He restated USSEC’s commitment to collaborate with varied stakeholders in Nigeria’s soy value chain.
In his words, “We want to continue building on our growing partnerships in 2022 to help Nigerian leaders meet their food and nutrition vision for the citizens of their country,” Sutter said.
On his part, USSEC’s Regional Director, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, Kevin Roepke, said, “We hope Nigeria will take a diversified and multi-faceted approach to achieve food and nutrition security. Local food and soy production is and will remain critically important, and we invite leaders to consider complementing their local supply with high-quality imports to most effectively and sustainably meet nutrition needs.”
Commending existing partnerships, Roepke said the Nigeria Now Forum would provide a pathway for accelerating food and nutrition security through collaboration and the identification of additional synergies and strengths.