Nigeria's Looming Food Catastrophe
A severe food security crisis is unfolding across Nigeria, with a new study projecting that 34.7 million people across 27 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will experience food insecurity or worse between June and August 2026. The alarming forecast comes from the latest Food Security Situation Analysis, known as Cadre Harmonise, which also indicates that 650,730 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara states will face a food crisis during this period.
Farmers in Distress as Food Prices Crash
While consumers initially welcomed the recent drop in food prices, this relief has come at a devastating cost to Nigeria's agricultural producers. Farmers who invested heavily in cultivation are now facing colossal financial losses, with many vowing never to return to their farms. The situation has created a dangerous paradox where affordable food today threatens food production for tomorrow.
Rice farmer Idris Kabiru from Kebbi State shared his heartbreaking experience: "I obtained a loan to cultivate rice on 24 hectares of land. If I sell my entire harvest at current prices, I won't even recover my investment cost." The crisis extends beyond grains to tuber crops, with cassava prices plummeting from N500,000 per pick-up van in 2024 to as low as N80,000 currently.
Professor Yusuf Sani Ahmad, Executive Director of NAERLS, urgently alerted the Minister of Agriculture about this development, stating, "The farmers are crying, it is only the consumers that are smiling. Some are reporting that they would not go back to the farm. I have a client that lost over N27 million."
Government Interventions and Stakeholder Recommendations
The Federal Government has implemented multiple measures to address food security challenges, including Vice President Kashim Shettima's recent announcement of agricultural incentives aimed at lifting 35 million Nigerians out of poverty and creating 21 million full-time jobs. However, sector players remain skeptical, pointing to previous interventions that yielded limited results despite substantial investment.
Stakeholders are advocating for several strategic solutions:
- Buffer stock policies to stabilize farmer incomes and consumer prices
- Minimum support prices to protect farmers from market fluctuations
- Promotion of backyard farming to enhance household food security
- Accelerated agricultural mechanization to improve productivity
- Adoption of sack farming techniques for urban dwellers
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, acknowledged the severity of the situation, describing the findings as "a wake-up call for coordinated and sustained action." He emphasized that the data will guide implementation of key government programs including the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) and the National Food Security and Nutrition Emergency Plan.
