The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the Federal Government (FG) to initiate more action in ensuring Nigerians have access to healthy food. The Executive Director of CAPPA, Oluwafemi Akinbode, called on the federal and state governments not to rely wholly on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and commercialised farming as a way to improve the food security and accessibility in the country. Akinbode made the call at a one day capacity building event on Human Rights, Food Justice, and Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSB) Tax, which was organised by CAPPA in Ikeja, Lagos State.
The event aims to explore the link between human rights and healthy food policies, offering strategies for groups to advocate for food justice and support the SSB Tax as well as deepen understanding and empower organisations to drive change for food justice in Nigeria. Oluwafemi also advocated that the government should increase tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) which has been implicated for increased burden of diseases in the country. He said, “Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have caught the attention of the global health community because they are responsible for about 41 million deaths yearly, equivalent to 71 per cent of all deaths globally.
In Nigeria, nearly 30 percent of annual deaths are due to NCDs, such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart diseases, stroke, cancer, oral health diseases, among a long list. “In understanding this public h.
