No food security without real security

Nigeria faces a critical threat to its food security as farmers are forced to abandon their fields due to escalating insecurity, according to extensive reporting across Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Plateau, Benue, Niger, and Borno states. The pervasive presence of terrorists and bandits, who drive farmers away, impose levies, destroy crops, or kill those who refuse to comply, renders agricultural production untenable.

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No country can expect its farmers to produce enough food when terrorists and bandits drive them from their fields, impose levies on those who remain, destroy their crops or kill them for refusing to comply.

The economic ramifications are severe. Crop losses have surged from approximately 6.0% in 2018/19 to over 20% in 2023/24, a more than threefold increase, according to World Bank data. This means farmers increasingly struggle to harvest their crops, diminishing the value of their labor. In some northern regions, armed groups demand "security levies" before allowing cultivation, with non-compliance leading to attacks. This extortion is described as economic warfare, making large-scale production impossible for farmers operating under such conditions.

In Borno State, the insurgency has devastated agricultural output. A 2025 agricultural study indicated that Boko Haram's activities had neutralized an estimated 420,000-tonne wheat production capacity. The human cost is equally horrific, with documented mass killings of farmers and fishermen, such as the January 12, 2025, incident in Dumba, Borno, where at least 40 were killed, and the November 28, 2020, slaughter of at least 43 rice farmers near Zabarmari. Such violence creates a cycle of fear, deterring farmers from returning to their land.

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This is not taxation. It is economic warfare.

The consequence is a vicious cycle: insecurity reduces cultivation, constricts food supply, and drives up prices. This, in turn, deepens poverty and vulnerability, making Nigeria increasingly dependent on foreign food markets. In 2025 alone, Nigeria spent N7.65 trillion on food and beverage imports, a stark contrast to its potential with 37 million hectares of arable land and a large youth population. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group warned in 2021 that insecurity had doubled the number of food-insecure Nigerians from 25 million to 50 million, a figure likely higher today. While crop production contributed significantly to agriculture's value in early 2026, the underlying insecurity undermines the sector's true potential.

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What farmer, after witnessing such killings, would confidently return to the farm?