Research on food security, Amosun tells varsities

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has urged researchers and scholars to embark on researches that would help to tackle the challenges of food security in the country.

Amosun made the appeal at a ‘Food Safety for Nutritionists and other Professionals’programme held a the Federal University of Agricultural, Abeokuta.

FUNAAB, alongside the International Life Science Institute, University of Ghana, Legon,organised the programme.

The governor, who noted that this year’s theme for the World Health Day, ‘From Farm to Fork,’ highlighted the global concerns for food safety, added that with the emerging threat from food-borne diseases there was the need to stem the menace of the diseases in the society.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Daisi Odeniyi, the governor stated that there had been an increase in food-borne diseases due to the consumption of contaminated food items.

Amosun, who said that there was the need to educate people on the dangers of eating unwholesome food, added that the agriculture ministry in the state regularly inspected abattoirs to certify that they were fit for the processing of meat for human consumption.

According to him, officials of the ministry subjected residues and fruits to laboratory analysis, while the Ministry of Health also
supported the initiative.

He added, “From the results, it was found that a reasonable number of the things that were being consumed were not up to standard, hence the need to train and retrain sachet water producers, bakers, food vendors and others, to address unhygienic food processing
procedures.”

Congratulating FUNAAB for organising the workshop, Amosun noted that the university was a hub of academic excellence.

He promised that his administration was willing to share from the university’s research efforts.

The Programme Co-ordinator in Nigeria, Prof. Folake Henshaw, stated that its essence was to disseminate knowledge on food safety and nutrition.

According to her, food safety has become an important issue in the global arena, especially with the emerging threats from chemical, biological and physical hazards.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, represented by the Dean, College of Food Science and Human Ecology, Prof. Lateef Sanni, said the programme revolved around the university’s mandate of research and teaching.

“In seeking global relevance FUNAAB is more or less becoming a regional hub of excellence.

Excellence in agriculture/ linking agriculture to food, health and human behaviour and so having an international workshop on food safety for nutritionists and health pofessionals, is actually part of our dream,” he stated. (Punch)

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