Press Coverage of Food Security in Nigeria: A Case of The Guardian Newspaper

Abstract

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO’s) recent estimates indicate that, globally, 842 million people – 12 per cent of the global population – were unable to meet their dietary energy requirements in 2011–13, down from 868 million reported for the 2010–12 period in last year’s report. Most of those affected are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the challenge of food security is still critical. Nigeria’s food security rating remains poor, in the absence of such social shock absorbers as food safety net, and measures aimed at facilitating access by the poor to affordable, quality food, which is on offer in nations that have good food security rating. The goal of this study was to examine reportage of food security as it affects Nigeria, the extent to which the Nigerian mass media accord reportorial relevance to the issue, which is closely linked to the very first of the MDGs that the United Nations floated at the turn of the current century. Therefore, the study examined Nigeria’s food security situation through the eyes of the mass media. It purposively selected six-month editions of The Guardian newspaper, which the researchers content-analysed using prominence, variety, and direction as content categories. A 132-day sample size out of 184 days in the six months derived from weekdays only. A key finding of this study is that The Guardian newspaper has shown gross indifference to an issue as globally critical as food security. The study recommends that both The Guardian and the Nigerian government pay closer attention to the issue.

Keywords: Food security; food insecurity; food sovereignty; food security indicators; mass media