According to a new research by SB Morgan Intelligence, farmers in Northern Nigeria face enormous challenges because of the insecurity that forces them to pay large amounts of money to access their farmlands.
The report claims that farmers in Northern Nigeria are compelled to pay bandits up to N100,000 in exchange for “permission” to use their farms during the planting and harvesting seasons. Often, noncompliance leads to agricultural losses, kidnappings, or even fatalities.
This event serves as a stark reminder of the widespread instability in the region, as non-state actors wield sway in the lack of strong official security protocols.
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Farmers in some Kaduna State areas are forced to pay anywhere from N70,000 to N100,000 just to be allowed to farm. This makes the problem of food security worse and puts the region’s general security at serious risk due to the rising number of abductions.
The kind of produce that terrorists are receiving paid for varies. For example, guinea corn growers pay N50,000 in farm taxes, while rice farmers in some places pay as high as N120,000.
Farmers are also burdened financially during harvest season when bandits demand additional fees.
Farmers in the northwest states paid a total of about N224.92 million in levies to several bandit groups between November 2020 and November 2023. This dire condition exacerbates the region’s economic problems by deterring investment in agriculture and leading to higher food prices and a scarcity of food.
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The widespread insecurity that permeates North-West Nigeria, an important agricultural hub, has far-reaching consequences. Hunger and poverty have been made worse by its notable contribution to the sharp increase in food inflation, which reached 35.41% in January 2023.
Given that salaries are stagnate and a significant section of the population lives below the poverty line, attacks on food carts and warehouses have grown routine.
According to a worrying estimate by The Cadre Harmonisé (CH), over 26 million Nigerians are expected to suffer from acute hunger in 2024 during the lean season, which runs from June to August. Seven Northern nations will experience severe food shortages in a single year, according to the World Bank’s food security study.
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