Hunger, food inflation may worsen as insecurity, flood, stare at farmers

– Our farms washed away by flood – farmers 

-Prices of farm inputs also on the rise – Experts

By Augustine Aminu, Hauwa Ali

Nigerians face increase hunger and high cost of food items as a result of the cost of farm inputs, insecurity and climate change, National President Farmers Association of Nigeria, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim has said.

Thousands of farmlands have been washed by recent flooding witnessed across the country, and Ibrahim who spoke to NatureNews.Africa in an exclusive interview, confirmed that there appears to be imminent disaster because food prices are going higher with no hope of ever coming down.

The national President also said farm inputs required for optimum production are also getting more expensive by the day.

According to Ibrahim, the high cost of key inputs such as seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers across the country has continued to frustrate farmers, a development he say may threaten the country’s production and the diversification drive of the government.

“Apart from surging input costs, the farmers also based their pessimism on the recent prediction of the Nigeria Hydrological Services.

“Farmers are also worried about the threat flood incidence in the country as predicted by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency and other sister organizations caused”.

Globally, food prices have experienced a record high in the first quarter of the year. This is amid the World Health Organisation’s World Food Safety Day earlier in June this year with the theme, “Safer food, better health’’ to draw attention and mobilise action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks and improve human health.

According to a United Nations price index of food items, March witnessed a 12.6 per cent increase and was recorded as the highest so far since 1990.

Grains such as wheat and corn and oil products as sunflower oil and soybean oil topped the biggest price gain.

The reason for the development is tied to the over 100 days invasion of Ukraine by Russia which has led to the death of more than 243 children, thousands of civilians and many others fleeing to neighbouring countries for safety. The level of destruction caused by the invasion has led to the “shocking destruction in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Sumy, including homes, hospitals and a theatre,” Washington Post reports.

Since Ukraine and Russia export 30 per cent of global wheat and 80 per cent of global sunflower, the ripple effect of the invasion on the world is the disruption in the supply of staple food items.

In Nigeria, a recent report by a management consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group, revealed that Nigeria and 44 countries suffered the direct and indirect impact of the “war-induced food crisis.”

The report further listed heavy reliance on food imports, high import bills, high inflation, high debt burden, climate risk and civil unrest as additional factors worsening the food crisis. The implication of these combined factors would be a humanitarian crisis with a gross inability of people to feed themselves.

A farmer in from Aya in Ibaji Local Government, Kogi state Gabriel Achumu who is into rice farming, could not hold back tears while speaking NatureNews.Africa , “The water came unexpectedly and took over my farmland. Now, there is no rice to be harvested” , he narrated.

Achumu said there will be food scarcity next year if the government does not come up with quick solutions to address the issue, and it may discourage most people from farming next year.

An importer, and a wholesaler of foodstuffs in Lagos, Chinedu Okaafor, said  there’s nothing like Nigerian rice anymore. The flood has affected the farms. As things are going now, if they continue to lock border, by December a bag of rice will sell for 70,000 naira, if Nigeria does not make any provision. Let the government allow us to bring in rice, the surplus will stabilize the market.

We cannot import rice into the country and it’s increasing the hardship of Nigerians. If you try to go near the border to bring in rice, you’re going with a 50-50 chance of returning  home because a stray bullet might kill you. We, ordinary citizens cannot import rice but sometimes we settle the custom officials millions  to look away and allow us to bring the rice and they comply, we call them “custom with sympathy”.

That’s why you still find foreign rice everywhere even after the ban. Although, now customs are saying no to import, so some are risking their lives through the bush to smuggle it.

Imagine that under Jonathan, the latest we sold bag of rice was 9000 naira during his last tenure. In less than 7 years now, that 9000 can only buy you 2 small paint buckets.

As it is now, since the flood, there has been daily increase in the purchase of food stuffs both Nigerian grain and the foreign one.

While all food stuffs are affected, rice is badly affected. Because even the beans, 90% of it comes from Niger. We only just produce about 10% of the beans we consume. That is possibly why the flood didn’t affect the price of beans much.

As we speak now, were supposed to be having fresh grains (rice) now, but the flood has swallowed everything. We cannot harvest under the river. The flood has destroyed farmlands. Until next year before we can have another planting season. So it’s just the little we have in stock or from places that the flood did not affect that we’re selling.

So as it is now, you that have in stock to sell out, knowing that when it finished you will not get another one, you need to increase the price on daily basis, those that will buy will buy. The increase is just due to the scarcity.

The Nigerian government atleast for now, need to allow importation, even if it’s just going to be among the cabals. 

Just from September 30 to now, a bag of foreign rice has jumped from 28000 to 45 from the border, we sell at 48000. And for Nigerian rice, we don’t have any new supply, it’s just from those that have in stock and they increase the price every day. The least you can buy from some companies is 40,500 naira. Some are 38,500 naira, the lowest is 36,000 naira. That’s what you buy them from north. Coupled with the diesel increase, because of the cost of bringing them down, a bag of rice now cost between 43- 45,000 naira now.

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have also lamented that Nigerians should be expecting food shortage soonest as the havoc of flood continues unabated across the country.

Prince Wale Oyekoya, Chief Executive Officer of Bama Farms said the heavy flood will definitely have adverse effects on the nation’s food production and that the attendant consequence of food shortage which may lead to food crisis.

Henry Olatujoye, CEO of Palmfield Development and Processing Limited, said apparently, the effect of the flood we are seeing now may not augur well with agricultural practices and thus will lead to scanty harvest.

He stated that major floodplains have been encroached in Nigeria due to the nation’s attitude to environmental sustainability.

“Many developments have taken place along the national floodplain without control and where used to be floodplain has been taken over by infrastructural development. What do you expect; water will find its level. Major rice farms, cassava and other grains planted this season are already affected and the resultant effect is high cost of goods”.

The Minister of Trade and investment, Niyi Adebayo at the 46th conference of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) said the Federal Government has advocated adoption of improved agricultural technologies to enhance food security and boost efficient industrial development process.

He said that the shortage of food and malnutrition security in Nigeria had not been adequately and critically analyzed in spite of various approaches addressing the challenges.

”Such approaches adopted so far include creation of enabling environment that could encourage investment especially in food production and processing, research innovation and technology upgrades.

”Others are national policy in Food and Nutrition which aims to attain optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians with particular emphasis on the valuable groups such as children, adolescents, women, elderly and groups with special needs,” he said.

An agriculturalist, Ismail Olawale said that the continuous rains being recorded in the country may negatively affect harvest at the end of the farming season.

Olawale, a fellow at the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS), said that though NAERLS’ National Agriculture Performance Survey 2022 indicated likelihood of bumper agro-harvest, the continuous and incessant rainfalls may ruin the harvests.

This, he said, would likely manifest where flooding washed away farmlands.

“The major atmosphere for agriculture performance survey conducted by NAERLS this year is that farmers are expecting better yields than last year.

“The rains started early around March in spite of the few dry spells witnessed in the course of the year which had minimal effect on production output.

“However in the South-South states, the rains have continued incessantly, since its return in April.