Insecurity, climate change slowing down Nigeria’s food sufficiency drive

 

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Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have said various conflicts, including clashes between farmers and herders, and climate change have consistently posed threats to Nigeria’s agricultural development and the country’s attainment of food sufficiency.

The stakeholders spoke at the one-day conference on new frontiers of agriculture and rural development in Nigeria, organised by AVAS Consulting, in Abuja.

The Chief Executive Officer of AVAS Consulting, Michael Kadiri, lamented that major focus had been on the impact of the clashes between farmers and herders to food sufficiency in Nigeria with little focus on climate change as a form of conflict.

He said: “When we talk about conflict and fear from farmers, everybody focuses on the fact that there is terrorism and banditry. There are other factors. Such as climate change. There is also the fact that Lake Chad is drying up, among others.

“And these are all human conflicts and when we start to create conversations around these issues, people tend to develop hope.

“And so the idea of this confidence is to uplift the sector because when we uplift the sector, the country will benefit. If the smallholder farmer is operating efficiently in an environment, then he will be able to supply us goods that are ready for the markets,” he said.

Founder, Plant for Peace, James Brett, urged Nigerians to advance agriculture in conflicts communities to achieve food sufficiency and security across borders.

He said: “The need to promote agriculture in rural development in the midst of conflict resonates beyond borders. We must start stimulating problem areas of the world to empower communities to become self-sufficient through sustainable agriculture and a trend to redress small-scale farmers and communities in Nigeria.”

Also, the Executive Director of AIP BOESS Consulting, Santiago Zubiaga, stressed the need to fill a gap in the agricultural sector, including subsectors such as animal husbandry and fisheries.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Army Farmers Limited, Maj. Gen. Abdulkadri Mohammed, said the Nigerian Army had been implementing President Muhammadu Buhari’s agricultural policy agenda on food security.

He said all the barracks have land available for those interested in farming, and he said this would be available on payment of N10,000 per hectare.