The MATAN Food Bank Professionals Association of Nigeria has launched a bold, technology-driven programme aimed at ending hunger and strengthening food security across the country with the rollout of its Automated MATAN Food Security Initiative (AMESI/METS).

The national flag-off, which attracted farmers and stakeholders from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, marked the unveiling of a comprehensive framework designed to transform food access, production and distribution nationwide. The three-day event was held at the National Institute of Sport in Lagos.

National President of the MATAN Group and Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Olakunle Johnson, described the initiative as a “spiritual project” focused on rebuilding Nigeria’s food systems from the grassroots. He said AMESI would deploy modern tools for production, tracking and distribution to deliver sustainable solutions to hunger.

“Most problems in this country will solve themselves once food is available,” Johnson said, stressing that widespread food availability would significantly reduce insecurity, including insurgency and banditry, which often thrive in environments of hunger and deprivation.

A major pillar of the programme is a multipurpose digital food security identity card linked to citizens’ Bank Verification Number and National Identification Number.

The system is designed to enhance transparency and ensure efficient, targeted food distribution, while eliminating chaotic food queues. MATAN plans to enumerate over 200 million Nigerians to identify children, vulnerable groups, workers and households for structured food access.

Community kinship teams will drive data collection, operate food banks, and manage automated street-level feeding machines for both cooked and uncooked meals.

To guarantee supply, MATAN has partnered with large-scale farmers, who will focus on production while the association handles storage, logistics and nationwide distribution.

The initiative also includes land automation and community farming, allowing landlords and tenants to pool land for mechanised cultivation. Johnson urged Federal, State and Local Governments, as well as development commissions, to support the full implementation of the programme, insisting that lasting peace is impossible without guaranteed food access.

Vice President, North West Zone, Abba Imam, said the project is built on a bottom-to-top model to ensure active community participation. He outlined the organisational structure spanning a National Advisory Council, Women in Agriculture, and executive councils at national, zonal, state and community levels.

Board of Trustees member and Director at Greenwich Merchant Bank Nigeria, Goni Faruk Umar, said warnings by the International Monetary Fund on looming food scarcity spurred the grassroots farming scheme. He disclosed that youths would be mobilised, allocated farmlands and their produce purchased for subsidised community distribution.

Former Gombe State Deputy Governor, Joshua Lidani, described the initiative as unprecedented and assured that within two years it would significantly improve national food security and boost the agricultural economy.

Also speaking, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Miss Farms Ltd and Chairman of MATAN’s Food Security and Sustainability Committee, Olajide Bashorun, said collective action among farmers is critical to building a resilient food system.

He noted that hunger fuels poor health, low productivity and antisocial behaviour, adding that conquering hunger is key to social harmony.

Under the programme, farmers will be registered on a MATAN digital portal, supplied with farming inputs at competitive prices, and guaranteed off-take of produce at agreed farm-gate prices.

With confidence that the initiative will begin to yield tangible results within one year, MATAN says the AMESI platform is positioned to improve food supply, create jobs and strengthen national security, placing food at the heart of Nigeria’s development and stability agenda.

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