Strong indications have
emerged that food crisis looms in
Nigeria as fresh indices have shown
that more than 65 per cent of 160
million Nigerian population is food
insecure.The indices also revealed
that more than 1.4 million children in
northern Nigeria are at risk of severe
malnutrition in 2013, while the
country loses an estimated N1 billion
on contraband rice on daily basis.
The food insecurity was said to have
been fuelled by the activities of Boko
Haram insurgency and the military
crackdown within the past six
months that the Federal Government
declared a state of emergency in
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
This had forced nearly 20, 000
farmers in the northern part of the
country to abandon their farmland
while 24, 700 acres of rice paddies
had been abandoned at the peak of
harvesting season in June, this year.
In the past few months in Nigeria,
there have been growing fear of food
insecurity sequel to lack of stable
supply and skyrocketing prices of
food in the market. Essential
commodities and food products have
become unaffordable to the common
man due to the astronomical rise in
their prices, probably caused by
impractical policies of the Federal
Government in these segments.
The price of rice, for instance, had
been hitting historic highs of N12,500
per bag, triggering a panic among the
people across the country. Persistent
increase in prices of other staple
products such as fish, bread, meat,
cereals, chicken, yam, onions, beans,
vegetable oil, tomatoes, groundnut oil
and others have also aggravated the
continued woes of the common man.
The country’s efforts to end poverty
has also been dampened by hortage
of products and ever-increasing
prices have created unsettling
sentiments across communities.
The Food and Agricultural
Organisation of the United Nations
(FAO) had in a statement issued in
September, this year, warned that
Sahel States in northern Nigeria were
faced with severe food insecurity,
adding that poor families had used
up their food stocks and were facing
high food prices awaiting the next
harvest.”
The indices also noted that over 1.4
million children in the North are at
risk of severe malnutrition this year.
This revelation also came as scores
of people have alleged that the
country’s Agricultural Transformation
Agenda (ATA) have been hijacked by
unscrupulous operators across the
country’s borders.
In the case of rice, the
implementation of high tariffs for rice
importation has brought legal
imports into the country to a
standstill, creating a massive
demand from staple consumers. Due
to the absence of local paddy
production to meet this demand,
smugglers have been having a free
ride, pumping rice into the country
through the borders.
According to a report, more than 2.5
million tonnes of rice were imported
into some neighbouring countries
since Nigeria’s implementation of the
new tariffs at 110 per cent and most
of this volume found its way into
Nigeria through the porous borders.
Mr. Saka Yinusa, the Deputy
Comptroller General of Customs
(DCG) in charge of enforcement, said
recently that Nigeria loses an
estimated N1 billion on contraband
rice daily, which translates to N356
billion yearly.
Also, Chairman, Borno State Farmers
Association, Muhammed Namadi,
reportedly said: “Hundreds of farmers
have been killed or forced to abandon
rice and other crops ready for
harvesting or just planted. We have
suffered a great deal as farmers in the
last three years. Many young and old
farmers have been forced to leave
their farms.”
The Borno State Agriculture
Commission also said nearly 20,000
farmers have been driven from their
land by both the insurgency and the
military crackdown in May. In June,
the Chad Basin Development
Authority reported that 10,000
hectares (24,700 acres) of rice
paddies had been abandoned at the
peak of harvesting season.
Several rice mills in the country have
also been fully or partially shut down
due to lack of paddy supply, leading
to unemployment and mounting
losses for the entrepreneurs. These
include Olam Nigeria, Ebony Agro
Industries Limited, Ashi, Mewa and
Umza rice processing mills, and
Popular Foods.
President of Rice Distributors
Association of Nigeria (RIDAN),
Esther Olufunmilayo, urged
government to review the impact of
its present policy on the economy,
arguing that tariff hike imposition
without tangible transformation of the
local rice value chain defeats
government’s rice self-sufficiency
goal.
The reality is that the increase in
import tariffs for rice has not made
any significant impact on paddy
production. The rice millers are going
out of business, the consumers are
suffering from lack of affordable
supply.
The Managing Director of Attajiri Rice
Mill, Sokoto, Alhaji Nura Attajiri, in a
recent media report, lamented that
most of the people that collected
agricultural loans from government
for paddy rice production were not
genuine farmers.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/hunger-looms-nigeria/

This is serious!

I think the figure is incorrect, if the number of children facing malnutrition in the entire North is 1.4million which means we are winning the war against hunger.Kano alone has more than one million Almajiris, that is those who are not sure of their daily bread. If you go down to Zamfara, Sokoto and other far North, you will discover that Almajiris outnumber the residents. North sees family planing and birth control as abomination. They bear children like pigs, even a man who cannot afford N5000 monthy has three wives.And their Governors do not care to educate them on birth control rather budgeting more money for marriage ceremony of unemployed men and women.

ceo4eva: Hunger has been part of this administration. After budgeting over 1 billion on food for Aso rock, what do you expect?

Why must you limit it to this administration?

the last time i checked, the north has the highest land mass in nigeria and their brother dangote is the richest black man on earth yet 1.4m children die of malnut. too bad.

@@@

and the mad man on twitter isnt interested

Karma is a b!tch .but, unlike Awolowo, we are more than compassionate.

Onyejiuwa okoh: I think the figure is incorrect, if the number of children facing malnutrition in the entire North is 1.4million which means we are winning the war against hunger.Kano alone has more than one million Almajiris, that is those who are not sure of their daily bread. If you go down to Zamfara, Sokoto and other far North, you will discover that Almajiris outnumber the residents. North sees family planing and birth control as abomination. They bear children like pigs, even a man who cannot afford N5000 monthy has three wives.And their Governors do not care to educate them on birth control rather budgeting more money for marriage ceremony of unemployed men and women.

nah wah ooooo, so hunger de bomb dem for North but i heard they are the food basket of the Nation, so am asking why are they hungry ?

Food scarcity due to violence in the northern part of Nigeria is alarming. Drastics steps needs to be taken to curb this, one of such is to reduce the amount of waste in the agric sector, it is estimated that over 33% of annual harvest are wasted as a result of inaccessibility of market by farmers or lack of storage and processing facilities.

You can join the agriculture community on www. where you can interact with other farmers and agriculture professionals.

stevnwigw1: the last time i checked, the north has the highest land mass in nigeria and their brother dangote is the richest black man on earth yet 1.4m children die of malnut. too bad.

Just similar to the country we find ourselves..

MALNUTRITION: SCOPE CAUSES OF MALNUTRITION