Food price surge looms as attackers chase farmers

A further surge in the prices of food items looms in Nigeria as attackers chase innocent farmers from their farmlands. Most Nigerians are currently finding it difficult to feed their families due to high cost of food.

Some experts have warned that Nigeria may experience worst situation between September and October this year if the government at levels don't rise to the occasion. 

Hassan Ya'u, a 42-year-old farmer in Nigeria's northern Katsina state, was tending to his maize and sesame seed crops when dozens of armed men on motorcycles launched a deadly attack. Ya'u and fellow farmer Musa Nasidi narrowly escaped, but at least 50 people, mostly farmers, were killed. The attackers abducted an unknown number of people in broad daylight, marking one of many recent violent raids on farming areas.

The assailants targeted the Kankara farming community because the farmers had not paid a levy imposed by the armed gang. Such raids are driving farmers from their fields, contributing to rising food prices and soaring inflation amid Nigeria’s worst cost of living crisis in a generation.

"They set ablaze my produce and took away foodstuff worth about 4 million naira ($2,740)," said Ya'u, now seeking refuge in Daura, nearly 200 km (124 miles) from Kankara. "I don't have access to my farm because bandits have taken control of the area. Everything has been ruined," added Ya'u, a father of 13 children who now faces an uncertain future.

Armed gangs are demanding up to three million naira per village, depending on its size, to allow farmers to work. "The farmers are even forming vigilante groups to try to access the farms, but it is still very difficult," said Kabir Ibrahim, president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.

Northern Nigeria, which produces much of the country's staples like rice, yam, and maize, is also its most unstable region. Armed kidnapping gangs plague the northwest, while Islamist militants wreak havoc in the northeast.

Nasidi, 36, fled to near Katsina town after the Kankara attack. He used to harvest substantial quantities of groundnuts, sesame seeds, and maize, but now faces a bleak year after part of his 8.5-hectare farm was set ablaze. "The situation is beyond our control, and I had no choice but to leave Kankara because our lives were in danger," he said.

A World Food Programme report on global food insecurity lists Nigeria among the world's "hunger hotspots," attributing this to insecurity in farming areas and high costs of seed, fertilizer, chemicals, and diesel. Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence reported that 1,356 farmers have been killed in Nigeria since 2020, with 137 deaths recorded this year alone, making farming an increasingly dangerous occupation. "The risk is very grave," said Confidence McHarry, SBM's lead security analyst, noting that gunmen also attack farmers suspected of collaborating with the military.

Defence spokesperson Major General Edward Buba stated that with the rainy season underway, the military was prioritizing farmers' security. "The farmers' union is collaborating with the armed forces' farm protection plan to make the most of the rainy season," he said, without elaborating.

However, for 22-year-old farmer Abdulaziz Gora in Zamfara state, adjacent to Katsina, there is little hope of returning to his farm. He relocated to the state capital Gusau after a violent attack on his village in May, abandoning his soybean and maize crops. "Anyone caught there risks being kidnapped or killed," he said.