Concerned by the threat of a looming food crisis this year, Nigerian farmers have called on the government to address issues of terrorism, banditry, and herdsmen attacks in Nigeria’s Northern region as well as armed robbery and kidnapping in the South that have constantly put farmers and their investments in peril.
Since the security situation became intense a few years ago, several farmers have fled the tense states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, and thousands of agribusinesses have been destroyed after destructions on their farms.
As a result, growth in the agricultural sector has been inconsistent and constantly slowing since the third quarter of 2016 over worsening insecurity issues.
Third-quarter figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that growth in the sector slowed from 1.58 percent in the third quarter of 2019 to 1.39 percent.
“There is evidence that there will be a food crisis this year. Food prices are already skyrocketing and it will further surge,” said Ibrahim Kabiru, national president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria.
“But we must address the issue of insecurity and banditry to avert this impending food crisis in 2021,” Kabiru said.
“Farmers should be able to carry out their farming activities without any form of fear and harvest without having to pay bandits. These are crucial in preventing a food crisis,” he said.
The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) had in 2020 listed Nigeria among 27 countries on the frontline of an impending Covid-19 food crisis in 2021.
Last year, farmers in the Southern region of Nigeria suffered from inadequate rainfall while their counterparts in the North suffered from severe flooding. These issues disrupted farming cycles also with the pandemic disruptions on the food supply chain.
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This adversely impacted food production in 2020 and led to a surge in imports. Nigeria’s agricultural imports for Q3 2020 increased in value by 21.13 percent compared to Q2 2020 and 109.82 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2019.
Similarly, prices of key staples skyrocket at an alarming rate. Food inflation accelerated to 18.3 percent in November, while core inflation edged up to 14.89 percent in November 2020, according to data released by the NBS.
Farmers, who spoke with BusinessDay, also called on the government to ensure that farmers grow crops all-year-round and adopt mechanised agriculture to boost productivity and scale.
“Mechanisation is a very critical issue and it must be at the centre of the country’s food security plan,” said African Farmer Mogaji, CEO of X-ray Consulting.
“If farmers continue to use crude equipment they will never grow enough for Nigerians and avert the looming food crisis,” Mogaji, who is also the head of agribusiness – Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said.
With mechanised farming, farmers will easily translate from subsistence farming to commercial farming, he said.
Also, some farmers note that access to adequate financing in the sector will spur investments to raise productivity and sustain the growth of the non-oil sector.
Furthermore, they note that agro entrepreneurs seeking to build businesses that could boost food production would be able to shift from subsistence to commercial level as they scale their businesses.
“Funding is the biggest problem we have in Nigeria’s agriculture and we need it to put all the factors of production together to drive growth in the sector, especially in 2021,” said Abiodun Olorundenro, manager, Aquashoot.
“The interest rate on agricultural loans from money deposit banks in the country is unsustainable and no agribusiness can survive with it,” he said.
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