Dangers of Nigeria slipping into food insecurity due to insecurity
Oladimeji Daniels
When the Muhammadu Buhari administration came on board, one of its first plan was for Nigerians to grow what Nigerians eat in Nigeria. That soon yielded results especially in rice production. The closure of the borders ensured that many had no choice than to resort to eating what is called in Nigerian parlance local rice.
States such as Lagos and Kebbi soon went into partnership that birthed great brands like the Lake rice. The Federal Government also rolled out several programmes to encourage local farmers with grants. One of such is the Anchors Borrowers Programme.
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As good as the results of these lofty initiatives were, insecurity has dealt and is dealing huge blows to food security in Nigeria.
The disruption to the international food supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increase in prices of food items. This cannot but happen as one tenth of what is eaten in Nigeria is still being imported. Coupled with the decline in the value of Naira, the cost of imported goods has increased by 28 percent from last year, prompting the United Nations to say some 23 million Nigerians may become food insecure. Already, around 85 percent of Nigerians have experienced an increase in prices since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Africa is the most food-insecure continent, with Nigeria being the most populous on the continent. What is being done globally is for countries to look inwards by empowering their local farmers to produce more, which Nigeria has been doing.
The trouble, however, is the rising insecurity in the country which has scared many farmers away from their farmlands and villages. The All Farmers Association claimed that the number of farmers leaving their land in northern states like Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa and Zamfara has more than doubled in this year.
In the northeast, farmlands are being destroyed or made inaccessible by Boko Haram while cows and sheeps are being stolen. Whole villages are destroyed while people are kidnapped for ransom. This has become the lot of the Southwest as well where rising costs are already being experienced due to incessant kidnapping.
In the middle-belt, there are clashes between farmers and herdsmen because of grazing areas, thus making farming a risky enterprise in states like Benue known traditionally for farming.
A couple of Saturdays ago, the United Nations put the number of rice farmers killed in Zabarmari in Borno State at 110. All these will certainly lead to food insecurity in Nigeria in 2021 and going forward, especially as the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, says insurgency may not end in Nigeria in the next 20 years.
Whilst that is a gloomy forecast, he was right on the fact that all must cooperate to contain insecurity in Nigeria. This is more important in the area of intelligence gathering. Ammunitions without accurate intel do not win wars.
The Nigerian government has to do something urgently, otherwise food will become a luxury almost no one can afford in Nigeria, while many may have to alter their diets.
The country is already grappling with water shortage. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation, Nigeria’s biggest irrigation source, the Lake Chad, shrunk by 90% since the 1960s.
The Nigerian government also estimated that in Borno State the Sahara dessert is encroaching at the rate of a kilometer a year.
These are all gloomy forecasts and it is why the Nigerian government must start acting as though it recognises that the wars being waged by the Boko Haram and the bandits in the north and the kidnappers down south are targeted at the soul of Nigeria. If these enemies of Nigeria have been engaged over time using the same tactics, it is time to try other tactics.
