Agric In Nigeria: Nigerian farmers count gains, pains

January Edition

Dear Reader,

Nigeria’s agriculture sector recorded numerous challenges in January, from climate change impacts to conflicts between farmers and herders.

Earlier in the month, the Nigerian Women for Agricultural Progressive and Development Initiative (NWAPDI) sounded an urgent call for greater attention to female farmers’ plight, emphasising their critical role in the country’s food security.

At an event in Lagos, the organisation’s National Coordinator, Omolara Svensson, decried the lack of robust data and structural support in the agricultural sector, citing these as significant barriers to progress.

“Women constitute approximately 90 per cent of the workforce in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, yet they remain under-recognised and unsupported,” Ms Svensson said. “Without their tireless contributions, food insecurity in the country would have reached unprecedented levels this year.”

In Jigawa State, a clash between farmers and herders resulted in the loss of ten lives.

Despite these challenges, there are some positive developments in the sector.

Cocoa farmers in the agrarian communities of Oyo State?are reaping the?benefits of the soaring prices of cocoa beans in the current season.

According to them, proceeds from cocoa farming in the outgoing season tripled what they realised in the previous season. The development had positively impacted their living standards, as some had conveniently embarked on house-building projects and bought cars and motorcycles, among other things.

However, other farmers have not been as fortunate. In Kwara State, rice plantations were submerged by Jebba Dam water, resulting in losses of millions of naira. The state government?demanded?an investigation into the incident.

Muhammad Abdulkadir, a community leader in Tada, told PREMIUM TIMES that the flooding destroyed crops valued at millions of naira.

“Our farmers here came from different states in the north. We have farmers from Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, and Niger State, and they have lost millions of naira worth of rice farms to this flooding. When there was no flooding, we realised over three million metric tonnes of rice here annually,” the community leader said.

On the international front, illegal rosewood trade continues to thrive in Gambia despite laws aimed at curbing it.

In another development, the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology tasked the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) with clear labelling of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) products.

During the agency’s 2025 budget defence session in Abuja, the committee said clear labelling was in line with global best practices. Rep. Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP-Rivers) insisted that clear labelling of GMO products would enable Nigerians to make informed decisions on what they consume.

Within the month, PREMIUM TIMES also reported how Climate change-induced heatwaves devastated Taraba yam farmers.

“That morning, I joined other farmers in the village to check the status of my farm only to see it in a bad condition — the yams were rotten,” Alpha Shonvo, 29, who started his farm in Kakulu village, Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State, when he was 12 years old, told PREMIUM TIMES.

This newspaper also reported how ginger farmers in Kaduna State were excluded from relief funds after suffering harvest losses.

Farmers in Kachia and other parts of Kaduna lost an estimated N12 billion to a fungal disease epidemic that destroyed their ginger crops. The federal government, led by President Bola Tinubu, responded to the disaster by establishing a N1.6 billion Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment (GRATE) fund to enable the farmers to participate in the new planting season.

The state government also announced a scheme to support the farmers through the Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency (KADA).

However, PREMIUM TIMES’ investigation last August and follow-up interviews in January showed that many farmers did not receive the support.