FEEDING PEACE: HOW FOOD EQUITY CAN REBUILD SECURITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

In Nigeria, persistent insecurity has often been addressed through military interventions and law enforcement strategies. However, the role of hunger and food inequality as root causes of violence, unrest, and organized crime remains underexplored. This paper argues that food equity is not just a humanitarian issue but a critical security imperative. Through a multidisciplinary desk review of academic literature, policy reports, and case studies, this research examines how systemic food insecurity fuels social unrest, youth fanaticism, banditry, and displacement in Nigeria. It also explores bold, community-driven strategies, including the use of surplus food as a tool for peacebuilding in conflict zones, USSD-based logistics systems to connect rural farmers to consumers through a single-dispatch model, and the integration of vulnerable populations such as Almajiri, homeless youth, and rural women as trained agricultural labourers in exchange for food, shelter, and basic amenities. Additional solutions include youth-led training in solar-powered agro-security infrastructure and policy reforms that promote land access, transparency, and food equity, each forming part of a sustainable, multidisciplinary pathway to national stability. The paper concludes that meaningful progress in national security requires a fundamental shift toward inclusive food system reform. Bridging the gap between food access and peacebuilding can offer a more sustainable path to stability in Nigeria.