Nigeria is facing a soaring food crisis, with dire reports published as several media reports dated August 9, 2024, have indicated a gloomy outlook for Agriculture in Nigeria. Instead of a bountiful harvest that might provide relief this year, climatic threats and disasters have ruined our hope for the year. Food Prices are through the roof, and people are worried. The nation is currently contending with droughts in some areas and floods in others, and both of these disasters are affecting food production in an intense way. The Federal and State governments seem unable to deal with these, and it will likely get worse before it gets better.
Ten states have been hit the hardest by the floods including: Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto, and Kebbi. These states account for over 50% of the annual food produced in Nigeria. In contrast, Kogi and Kwara States are also experiencing Drought that stopped them from producing enough crops. While the floods and droughts are wreaking havoc, another insidious threat looms on the horizon—pests. Unsurprisingly, Nigeria has faced an increase in pest invasions during years of simultaneous floods and droughts.
Pests threaten Nigeria’s crops, worsening food insecurity.
These pest invasions, which for many involve locusts, armyworms, and the occasional bird, can descend upon already weakened crops with devastating effect. Locusts, for instance, are famous for being able to eat a vast quantity of crops in a very short turn of time, and, when they move through an already weakened acre, they can completely destroy it. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has cautioned against the potential for locusts incursions to increase in West Africa based on changing climatic conditions. Nigeria is particularly vulnerable, given its current agricultural calendar year is so uncertain.
If pest infestation is what waits on the other side of floods and drought, this would create a difficult, if not dire, situation for food Insecurity in Nigeria. The impact of these pests goes beyond crop yield. Farmers, who are already struggling with the loss of crops due to flooding and drought, would face additional financial burdens if pests were to destroy what little remains of their harvest. For example, reduced agricultural output adds to how food prices will disproportionately rise in the immediate wake of floods, and the possibility to sustain livelihoods may end for both farmers and urban households. If both flooding and drought damage a crop, it is conceivable that pests will continue to confound and burden smallholder farmers.
Inadequate response to pests could trigger a food crisis.
Furthermore, the damage done to crops by pests may also reduce the likelihood of the Farmer replanting crops, since farmers will be unwilling to plant crops they will only destroy again. This could negatively result in a long-term decline in agricultural productivity, which would further threaten Food Security and Economic Stability of the nation. Addressing this potential threat requires urgent action from the government and relevant stakeholders. For instance, we need pest monitoring and nuisance control programs. Deploying early warning systems and rapid response teams could contain outbreaks before infestation and damage. Similarly, farmer Education could assist farmers’ pest management capacity.
Efforts must be coordinated, planned, and funded, to be effective. Without these interventions, Nigeria’s agricultural sector may be faced with the perfect storm of floods, droughts, and pests causing a food crisis like never before. Meanwhile, the federal government’s response to the food crisis has been criticized as inadequate and confused. Nigeria’s centralized system has resulted in the federal government supplying food and creating reliance on its centralism, with state governments hesitant to take any risks. In the United States, however, states manage their agricultural services independently with the federal government working to provide research, finance, and Export support.
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In Nigeria, this reliance on the federal government has resulted in inefficiencies and delays. The recent action to allow little importation of food duty-free seemed to be good; but the error in action was the executive order. While the executive order has a list of covered food items, namely rice, beans, millet, grain sorghum, maize, and wheat, the conditions set for importers such as needing to be in business for five years would potentially eliminate important contributors from important markets, like Lagos State’s rice mill at Imota.