Rising Food Prices Get Worse, Terrorists Lay Off Farmers

THE persistent rise in food prices that is unsettling the majority of Nigerians and fueling hunger could worsen as farmers raised the alarm that terrorists were seizing their farmlands and killing them. prevented them from carrying out their agricultural activities.

In the North, where most commercial farming takes place given their vast arable land, some farmers in Zamfara, Katsina, Nasarawa and Benue states, during interactions with our correspondents, lamented that insecurity prevented them from making the most of the rainy season, which would have boosted their harvest and depressed market prices.

Some of them said they had to pay royalties to terrorists to gain access to their farms.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mahmood Abubakar, noted at a recent ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team that terrorist attacks had prevented farmers from accessing to their farms, particularly in the North-West and Centre-North. He said, however, that the government was making efforts to resolve the problem.

He said, "That's one of the reasons why we have an arrangement for security guards known as agro-rangers, who provide certain security measures so that farmers can access their farms. Really, if they can't fully access farms across the country, you expect production to drop, but right now we're doing everything we can to make sure that the production is maintained through this safety provision.”

In May, members of Boko Haram from the Islamic State faction in West Africa Province reportedly invaded farmland on the outskirts of the Kala Balge Local Government Area in the Borno State and killed over 50 farmers. There have been other attacks on farmers in different parts of the north. In the South, some farmers have also complained about the invasion of their farms by herders.

Meanwhile, in Zamfara state, where the slogan is "Farming is our pride", farmers have lamented that due to terrorist attacks, farming is becoming almost impossible in the state. They said many farmers were killed while some were kidnapped.

A rice farmer in the state, Alhaji Nuhu Deme, said Sunday PUNCH that food prices may continue to rise and there may be a shortage if nothing was done to meet the challenge. He said this year's agricultural season would have been the best in recent years given the improved rainfall, but terrorists had continued to attack, kill or kidnap farmers who dared to go into the area. their farms.

Insecurity in the state came to a head when Governor Bello Matawall said in June that residents should protect themselves with firearms, a decision that was faulted by the police and the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

Deme said: "Despite improved rainfall this year, bandits now labeled as terrorists are invading our farmlands at will and sometimes we have nothing to harvest. They move around with weapons to monitor farmers and ensure that no one grows their crops without paying them first.

“The levy ranges from 100,000 naira to 1 million naira depending on the size of the farm and it must be paid before a farmer can be allowed to visit his farm. It is not a guarantee that the person will be spared in case they decide to launch an attack. Already, some farmers have paid the fee to the bandits and they can access their farm. This is why food is expensive because the farmer has to recover all the costs incurred, in addition to the high cost of transport.

"If a farmer has no money, the bandits would take some of the crops after the harvest. They are so patient and it tells you that they are in the field. If a farmer proves difficult, either he will destroy the crops by grazing his animals on the farm, or he will kidnap the farmer. I can tell you that many farmers have been victims of their ungodly activities."

Deme added that terrorists sometimes ask communities to pay a certain amount if they want to get to their farms safely, and the amount depends on the size and their appreciation of the community .

He added: "Some communities in the emirate of Dansadau in Maru local government area have been levied between 500,000 and 1 million naira and many have found ways to pay because farmers must also cultivate to feed their families.< /p>

He lamented: "A disturbing situation is that sometimes the bandits can come back and destroy the crops after collecting the levy from the farmers. Sometimes once they see people working on their farms, they kidnap them and take them to their hideouts and demand ransoms from the families. I can tell you that there are many farmers they have taken hostage for cultivating without paying the royalty. »

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