Herdsmen technically dragging Nigeria to food crisis as farmers’ flee farms–Report
A new report released by Business Hilights Intelligence Unit (BHIU), the research arm of the Business Hilights Online Publications, captioned: ‘The Multiplier Effects of growing Nationwide Attacks by Fulani Herdsmen’, has raised an issue of urgent national importance.
According to the report, “There are serious drop in attending to farmlands in a number of agrarian states who are famous in food production. These states include Benue, Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Edo, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Borno and Nasarawa states.
The report noted that “If urgent security assurances are not restored as soon as possible, poor yield in mainly root tuber crops and vegetables will begin to emerge in next few months which will mean acute food scarcity in the country”.
“The original policy trust of the current government is for many Nigerians to go back to farming to deepen food security, but the inability of the same government to drive Cattle Ranching investment has created serious misunderstanding between farmers and marauding herdsmen.
“Otherwise, Nigeria is very close to a food crisis as a result of the incessant attacks on farmers and the destruction of farmlands by herdsmen, as farmers have started fleeing their farmlands.
“Besides, there has been no clear move or acceptable workable solution from the federal government to resolve the disruptions and that has further encouraged farmers to flee farms.
Farmers in Benue and Taraba states who spoke to BHIU crew last week revealed that several atrocities perpetrated by herders are not reported as hundreds of farmers have been killed, maimed, raped or chased away from their farmlands in the last six months.
In an interview with the Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Otunba Femi Oke, he revealed that the crisis of land usage between crop producers and herdsmen have forced farmers to leave farmland due to the violence character of Fulani herdsmen and Nigerians who are buying food crops in cities will suffer it soon as there will nothing to buy again.
According to him, it is only when crops are farmed, processed and harvested that they are taken to various markets for sale. You cannot sale what you don’t have. This is the stage we are now in
Oke said, “We are not happy at the moment and we want this problem not to repeat itself because most of our farmers cannot feed themselves anymore. Many of them have fled and left their farmlands because of the activities of herdsmen. This can lead to a food crisis any time from now if it is not addressed”.
