Poverty is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Poverty situation in Nigeria is precarious, not only in terms of income poverty, but also in terms of food poverty. In Nigeria, there is high level of food insecurity for the past four decades as a result of neglect in food production when oil has become the major export product and the because of the adoption of neo-liberal economic policies such as devaluation of naira, trade liberalization and withdrawal of government from economic activities, ethnic and religious conflicts; disasters, such as flooding and drought have also contributed to food insecurity in Nigeria. In addition, Nigerian food crisis is a product of colonial disorientation that has led to neglect of the peasant agriculture and food crops sub-sector as well as over reliance on cash crops production and the oil sector. This paper presents a framework for understanding the relationship between systemic reforms, food security/production and poverty reduction. The major panacea towards reducing poverty remains a focus effort in increasing food security. However, Nigeria still has the potentials to be food-secure if the following strategies are adopted and implemented: rural development, provision of easy access to basic farm inputs, adequate budgetary allocations to agriculture particularly to the food crop sub-sector, enunciation of appropriate policies for food crop sub-sector, political stability, reduction in rural poverty, and peasant farmers? education.
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