Banditry and kidnapping have created a sense of fear in many farming communities in the North West and central part of the country. Alas, thousands of farmers are left with no other options than to abandon their farms uncultivated for some years now for safer and more secure environments, mostly as refugees in urban areas.
The displacement of farming communities by bandits as a result of incessant attacks which prevented them from tilling their farmlands, the abrupt cessation of rainfall, the increase in the price of farm inputs among others, are the major factors that affect food production in Northern Nigeria this year.
This has significantly been attributed to the hike in the price of agricultural produce and will ultimately lead to food insecurity.
An official of the United Nations, Dr Rhoda Dia, in July this year was reported to have warned that an estimated 13 million people in Northern Nigeria face the risk of acute food insecurity in the next few months.
The Project Manager, United Nations Development Programme – Global Environment Facility (UNDP – GEF), in charge of resilient food security project, said this was because the country is facing growing levels of acute food insecurity due to decades of insecurity across the country, adding that it had resulted in increasing poverty.
She said the situation was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and, recently, the series of clashes between farmers and herders.
The fact that most of the agricultural activities in Northern Nigeria are done by peasant farmers predominantly living in rural areas where they are subjected to attacks almost on daily by bandits is alarming.
Some farmers in one of the most troubled states said more than 30% of their farmlands are occupied by bandits.
In view of the foregoing, we are faced with imminent food shortage but it is more saddening that government seems to be helpless in addressing the situation.
Safiyanu Ladan writes from Zaria
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