In the face of rising food prices, the Irish government has said it will continue to support IITA in carrying out research that will tackle global food insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“From the Irish government’s point of view, I am glad this institute exists and we will work with it to ensure food security,” the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Kyle O’Sullivan said after holding talks with top officials of IITA in its headquarters in Ibadan on Wednesday, 8 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High food prices have reversed the previously positive trend towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion of people suffering from hunger worldwide by 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, about 75 million people are below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide to 923 million in 2007, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O’Sullivan said the funding of research in food production and security was one way to tackle the global problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the current international climate as regards food security, this is something we are going to support,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Irish government has been a long-st anding major supporter of IITA’s research work, which has helped in improving food production in a sustainable manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O’Sullivan commended the management of the institute, adding, “I am impressed with the st andards you have kept in managing this institute in a quite challenging local environment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that Dublin had resolved to channel its funding away from country specific programs to what they called ‘hunger task force\u2014which looks at the whole issue of food security and not country by country but as a systematic issue.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the new framework for tackling food insecurity, he said that working with the institute was imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What this means for us is working with institutes which look at food security and food production,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deputy Director General for R4D Support Dr. Lakshmi Menon, who took the ambassador around the campus, said that the institute was determined to tackle the challenge of improved agricultural production and disease control.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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