The MATAN Food Bank Foundation has reassured residents of Imo State that the impact of its food security and community empowerment initiatives would soon reach grassroots communities across the state, as its Imo chapter leadership wrapped up a statewide tour of the foundation’s structures.
Imo State Chairman of the MATAN Food Bank Foundation Hon. Chris Odika, speaking at the end of the tour in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, said the foundation’s two flagship programs, the Automated MATAN Food Security Initiative and the MATAN Community Compound Foods and Nutrition Resolution Initiative, were designed to rebuild Nigeria’s food system from the grassroots using modern tools for production, tracking, and distribution. He said the Automated initiative had been launched nationally in Lagos with farmers and stakeholders from all 36 states and targeted more than 40 million Nigerians through direct food access, elimination of distribution queues, and identification of vulnerable groups including children, workers, and low-income households.
Odika credited National President Ambassador Dr. Olakunle Moses Johnson for providing visionary leadership that had shaped the foundation’s direction, and praised Chief of Staff to the Vice-President South-East Zone and MATAN Groups National Secretary Ambassador Dr. Felix Johnson Osakwe for his role in the foundation’s growth in Imo State and the South-East region.
He warned members against using the foundation as a political platform and urged them to remain committed to its mandate of tackling hunger and promoting food security. Imo State Deputy Chairman Deacon Tony Chukwu said the tour was designed to strengthen the foundation’s structures in rural communities, which he described as the primary beneficiaries of its programs.
