Insecurity makes food security harder for over 5m Nigerians

Nigeria has again featured prominently in the 2019 Global Report on Food Crises, as the population of those unable to get food in the world remains over 100 million people. While Nigeria has for years been making efforts to ramp up food production, over five million people remain in critical need of food, as insecurity limits production. It is especially worse in the Northeast where Boko Haram insurgents make it difficult for most people to venture into their farms. Consequently, nearly impossible to either produce food or even make money to buy it.

The Global Report on Food Crises identified Nigeria among eight countries with the worst food crises in 2018, which collectively accounted for two thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity – amounting to nearly 72 million people. The countries in order of severity, were: Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Sudan, South Sudan and north Nigeria. Generally, more than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance in 2018. Coordinated by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), the report is described as a major collaborative effort between numerous agencies in the international humanitarian and development community.

The reported noted for several years the number of people who cannot meet their daily food needs without humanitarian assistance has been rising, primarily driven by two factors: persistent instability in conflict-ridden regions and adverse climate events. These growing needs have been reflected in the increasing level of international humanitarian assistance, which reached US$27.3 billion in 2017, up from US$18.4 billion in 2013. While critical to saving lives and alleviating human suffering, humanitarian assistance does not address the root causes of food crises.

“For (over) seven years there hasn’t been farming in the whole of Borno state, and we have been depending on the largesse of people like Dangote, and others, but for how long will Dangote feed Borno people with rice?” remarked Abba Gambo, a professor of Agriculture, and Borno indigene. The sentiment expressed in his comment during a meeting in Maiduguri last year, reflects the position of FSIN, that humanitarian assistance cannot solve the lingering food crisis.

When BusinessDay visited Borno and Yobe states last year, meetings with farmers and some of their leaders, showed there was a lot of fear due to insecurity, preventing them from returning to the farms to resume food production.

According to FSIN, in 16 states of northern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) the number of people in Crisis and Emergency decreased by 40 percent between June-August 2017 and 2018 to 5.3 million.

At the peak of the lean season 3 million people were acutely food insecure in the three north-eastern states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency where protracted conflict and mass displacement disrupted agriculture, trade, markets and livelihoods, and pushed up food prices

Economic Impacts

Although food prices declined globally in 2018, rising unemployment, lack of sustainable livelihoods or regular reliable work, currency depreciation, poor functioning markets and high food prices are regular outcomes in countries experiencing protracted conflict, often making economic shocks a secondary or tertiary driver of food insecurity.

In West Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali and north-east Nigeria) and East Africa (South Sudan and the Sudan), elevated prices were observed for most of the year instigated by production shortfalls, currency depreciation, insecurity and policies such as large-scale restocking of national inventories or subsidy cuts. Currency devaluation drove prices up in South Sudan, Nigeria and Zambia.

The Nigerian Naira depreciation undermined cross border trade and the purchasing power of those who sold livestock regionally.

It was also noted in the report that military operations and checkpoints disrupted agricultural production as well as markets and other livelihood activities. While four households in five had access to farmland in Yobe and two in three in Adamawa, almost half of them were not able to cultivate. In Borno two households in three had no access to farmland. In Adamawa, floods and conflicts between pastoralists and farmers also weakened household food security.

Food availability reportedly improved in late 2018 in the north-east as a result of better security conditions and access to land, favourable agro-climatic conditions, gradual recovery of markets, and restoration of livelihoods following continuous provision of assistance. However, the 2018 harvest prospects in the three states were below-average mainly because of the ongoing impact of insecurity in Adamawa and Borno. 256,257 Livestock production was hindered by limited access to pasture in north-eastern conflict-affected areas, and inter-communal conflicts in central states – Kaduna, Benue, Taraba, and Adamawa – as well as cattle rustling in the north-west.

In the short-term outlook for 2019, Nigeria, along with Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Sudan, and South Sudan are expected to remain among the world’s most severe food crises in 2019. Large segments of populations in most of these countries risk falling into Emergency levels of acute food insecurity.

For Nigeria, it is yet to be seen if security encumbrances will be promptly eliminated so that food production can rise significantly.

CALEB OJEWALE