Insecurity and local weather change are threatening Nigeria’s meals safety goal, pushing the nation nearer to an emergency.
Over 30.6 million persons are going through an acute meals disaster in Nigeria as fallout from local weather change and rising insecurity worsen the nation’s meals insecurity.
“There’s starvation within the land, the kind we haven’t seen earlier than, and it’s alarming,” mentioned Jude Obi, a professor and president of the Affiliation of Natural Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria.
The intersection of environmental shocks and rising insecurity has left hundreds of thousands of residents food-insecure and pushed up costs, threatening the financial and social stability of Africa’s most populous nation.
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The continual killings in food-belt states are worsening the plight of farmers who’re already confronted with a myriad of challenges.
The poor safety state of affairs within the nation is adversely affecting meals manufacturing, inflicting a provide shortfall and an import surge.
Knowledge from the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) present that Africa’s most populous nation spent N1.7 trillion within the first three months (Q1) of 2025 on meals importation.
For the reason that insecurity disaster escalated early this yr, Nigeria has misplaced over 60 p.c of its meals manufacturing in key-producing states, in response to consultants.
Edobong Akpabio, a former head of agribusiness on the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Business, mentioned the nation has misplaced 60 p.c of its meals manufacturing in key producing states on account of rising insecurity.
“A number of farmers don’t domesticate in locations the place they normally develop crops due to the excessive fee of insecurity,” she mentioned.
Ibrahim Kabiru, nationwide president of All Farmers Affiliation of Nigeria (AFAN), mentioned that insecurity has been the most important menace to meals safety in Nigeria.
In accordance with him, Nigeria’s meals system is impaired by the shortcoming of farmers to seamlessly perform farm actions with none type of worry.
Insecurity business
A 2024 report by SBM Intelligence mentioned that N139 million was paid as farm levies (together with planting and harvesting) to bandits who demanded at the least N224 million) between 2020 and 2024.
The report put farmers’ loss of life toll between 2020 and 2024 at 1,356 on the again of banditry and farmers-herders clashes.
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In accordance with the most recent Crime Expertise and Safety Notion Survey report launched by the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) lately, Nigerians paid N2.3 trillion as ransom to kidnappers in 12 months of 2023 and 2024.
The insecurity state of affairs has continued to discourage new agricultural investments in key crop-growing states whereas placing current agribusinesses in fixed peril.
Local weather change influence
Additionally, local weather change is taken into account probably the most urgent environmental downside going through the globe at this time, affecting patterns of life and common dwelling.
Flooding, droughts, erosion, and low season rains have made planting season unrealistic for a rustic that’s depending on rain-fed agriculture.
A 2024 report by the Meals and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said that torrential rains and floods throughout Nigeria in 2023 destroyed a couple of million tons of crops – sufficient to feed 13 million individuals for a yr.
“The influence of local weather change on meals manufacturing is changing into devastating yearly,” mentioned Kabiru.
Over 151 deaths had been recorded and three,018 displaced as floods hit the Nigerian city of Mokwa in Niger State on Could 29, 2025, in response to knowledge from the Nationwide Emergency Administration Company (NEMA).
Failed insurance policies, options
The federal authorities coverage options such because the creation of the Nationwide Livestock Transformation Plan and anti-open grazing legal guidelines to handle the difficulty have did not yield outcomes owing to poor implementation and lack of political will.
Specialists famous that establishing a transparent and equitable guideline for grazing rights and land possession, in addition to offering sturdy authorized frameworks for useful resource entry and neutral dispute decision, is a attainable answer to the continuing farmers-herders clashes.
Ayobami Joshua, a coverage and analysis analyst, mentioned addressing the worsening insecurity points in key food-producing states entails strengthening native safety constructions.
Joshua urged the federal government to undertake native policing and intelligence gathering in rural areas affected by banditry.
He famous that native actors perceive the terrain and may present early warnings about threats extra successfully than federal forces.
Additionally, a report by SBM titled ‘A Risk to Nationwide Stability,’ requires intensifying efforts to disarm non-state actors and management the proliferation of subtle weaponry.
In accordance with the report, to chop again on the killings of farmers, the federal authorities should be certain that perpetrators of violence, no matter their background, are swiftly and impartially prosecuted to finish impunity and restore public confidence within the justice system.
The report added that the federal government should assist and facilitate real, neutral dialogue and peace-building mechanisms at native, state, and federal ranges to rebuild belief and foster peaceable coexistence between farming and pastoralist communities.
Learn additionally: Nigeria faces starvation crisis as UN food programme runs out of money and supplies
For local weather change, consultants say the nation wants daring transformative actions to spice up the meals system and assist to make sure that assets attain meals producers throughout the worth chain.
Additionally they urge farmers to undertake climate-smart agricultural practices whereas utilizing rising applied sciences.
Kareem Yusuf, common supervisor of sustainability software program at IBM, said in a earlier interview with BusinessDay that “rising applied sciences are a essential device in our arsenal for curbing the development of local weather change and managing its results.”
