DANGER LOOMS! KATSINA STATE OUTLOOK.

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katsina State lies entirely within the tropics (latitude 11o00′ to 13o25N longitude 6o45′ to 9o05E) with distinct rainy season (May to October) and dry season (November to April).? Though the weather conditions can be chilly and dusty in December and January, there are no frosts or freezing temperatures to deter plant growth.? The soil varies from deep clay loams to sandy loam with gentle topographic features over much of the State.

The critical determinants of plant growth (and hence agricultural production) are the availability of suitable land and adequacy of water supply, thus, with the development of its natural water resources and irrigation infrastructure, the State has capacity for cultivating various types of crops and livestock production year-round.

This gives the State the comparative advantage of producing and supplying fresh, organic products on demand in any season of the year by using its rain-fed and infrastructure.

The economy of the State is basically agrarian in nature with a cultivable land of 2.4million hectares out of which 1.6million is under cultivation. This leave a land area of 800,000 hectares; equivalent to one third of the total cultivable land available for investment. The State also has over 61 water bodies suitable for irrigation farming with a capacity of 1121CU while the major ones have a total capacity of 558CU, located at Sabke, Jibia, and Gwaigwaye.        

Farming and rearing of animals occupies the lives of about 80% of the total population of the State. The State for long has been a major aggregation centre for cash crops such as cotton, ground-nuts and food crops such as maize, guinea corn, millet, and vegetables. The livestock in the state essentially consist of cattle, sheep, goat and Poultry. These provides huge opportunities for setting up of large scale agro-allied industries such as sugar processing industry, rice milling, oil? and flour milling, textiles, dairy products, confectioneries, meat processing, tannery, hatchery and poultry production, etc.

The State has the following ranking in agricultural production and other business endeavours in Nigeria:

·???????? Largest producer of cotton

·???????? Second largest producer of sorghum

·???????? Produces 13% of total Nigeria’s sugarcane making it second in? Nigeria’s ranking;

·???????? The World Bank ranked the State 4th in ease of doing business ahead of Lagos, Kano, Rivers and Cross Rivers;

·???????? The State ranks 12th in the prevalence Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME);

·???????? The State was ranked 17th?? in Gross State Product with average? per capita of $6,022; and

Major producer of other cereals and legume crops

Farming amid terrorists’ scare

Northern Nigeria, especially the western and eastern parts of the region, has been at the receiving end of terrorist activities and attendant humanitarian crises for more than a decade.

While Boko Haram insurgents – terrorists fighting against Western education – hold sway in the North-east, bandits have made life a misery for residents in the North-west. Schools, farms, markets, worship centres, and highways have been repeatedly attacked by terrorists, leading to the death or displacement of millions of people.

An estimated 12000 people have died in Katsina state and over 150,000 internally displaced person in the state.        

In 2020 ?alone, 50,000 hectares of farmland were abandoned by farmers in the state, due to bandits’ attacks. This is an alarming figure and should this trend continue then crisis looms.        

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Ripple Effect

The effect of insecurity on food prices has been severe. A market survey conducted by PREMIUM TIMES in Katsina and Yobe states showed that prices of grains have risen in the past two months, partly because of insecurity.

In June, 100kg of maize was trading at N25,000 but now sells at N42,000, while 100kg of guinea corn sold at N21,000 but now sells at N41,500. A 100 kg of millet sold at N25,000 but is now N39,000. Local rice sold at N44,000 but now sells at N67,000 while the price of wheat also increased from N31,500 to N45,500.

Though there are other reasons for the hike, many of the farmers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said insecurity was the major cause.

The time to be more decisive in dealing with insecurity is now, the further we play games with it the further we sink as a nation. We need these farmers back to the farm, safe and with improve infrastructure to get on the track of economic development.

?source: Premuim times, Vangaurd and https://kipa.kt.gov.ng/agriculture/