Nigeria faces high risk of food insecurity amid coronavirus spread in north

The rapidly spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the northern parts of the country could trigger scarcity of food in Africa’s most populous nation by 2021, if the government fails to take proactive measures to mitigate the severity of a looming food crisis, farmers say.

Farmers who spoke with BusinessDay hinged their believe that there may be food crisis next year on the fact that the pandemic has already obstructed the country’s fragmented farming supply chain which has led to the recent spike in food prices.

Also, they attributed it to the rapid spread of the virus in northern Nigeria, where over 60percent of the country’s food is grown and to the Muslim Ramadan period – when most farmers tend to be less productive due to their religious obligation.

They further said that the country is approaching the peak period of the raining season – May through July when vegetables such as tomatoes and pepper becomes scarce owing to their inability to grow well during the raining season.

“We are going to experience food scarcity next year if the government fails to act now” said Ibrahim Kabiru, national president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria.

“The coronavirus pandemic has obstructed the farming systems and the two weeks lockdown of Kano state will further worsen the problem,” Kabiru said.

He called on the government to adopt disruptive innovative solutions to address the impact of the pandemic on the agricultural sector.

Since the lockdown started four weeks ago in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja, prices of key staples have surge by more than 20percent across the country.

Similarly, hunger rate has risen fast as government fails to provide sufficient social safety net to protect the poor from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is going to be food crisis next year and it is not just in Nigeria but globally,” said Abiodun Olorundenro, manager, Aquashoots Limited.

“The grains we are consuming now are the ones grown last year. We supposed to start growing the ones for next year now but the pandemic has obstructed the farming systems,” Olorundenro said.

“If we are to advert this food crisis next year, we need to do much more to grow enough food this year,” he added.

He stated that the government has been trying to support the sector but much more will be required now, saying that inputs must be made available to farmers at affordable prices and security of lives and properties must be guaranteed on farmlands.

Recently, the World Food Programme (WFP) warns that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation.

“There will be a 10 or 12percent reduction of farm produce this year and if the coronavirus continues to spread to rural communities the reduction might get to 25percent,” Ayodeji Balogun, country manager, AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited said.

“We need to declare a state of emergency on cultivation of wet farming and ensure that there is free movement of trucks conveying food on the roads and ports,” Balogun said.