In Benue State, Nigeria, the intertwined issues of insecurity and food security present a complex and urgent challenge. In this report, JOHNSON BABAJIDE examines the multifaceted impacts of insecurity on food security.

FOR many years now, Benue State has been grappling with persistent issues of insecurity that have further aggravated food security in the state and the rest of the country.  Conflicts between farmers and herders are exacerbated by factors such as land disputes, resource scarcity, and ethnic tensions.

The killing and maiming of innocent people have become a daily occurrence in the state that once prided itself as the most peaceful state in Northern Nigeria.

The state has now become an epicenter of crisis, no thanks to the menace of armed herders and local bandits that have turned the state to slaughter slabs resulting in the unwanted loss of lives.

As of the last count, no fewer than 17 local government areas in the state have been ravaged by armed herders with over 6,000 people estimated to have lost their lives in the past decade. Some of the affected local government areas include Guma, Makurdi, Gwer West, Logo, Agatu, Apa, Otukpo, Tarka, Ogbadibo as well as Okpokwu.

As a result of the wanton attacks, there are 14 official internally displaced persons camps located across the state.

In the same vein, a section of the state popularly known as Sankera axis which comprises three local government areas –Logo, Katsina-Ala and Ukum– is virtually in firm grip of local militias who have turned the area to slaughter slabs.

Conflicts everywhere not only threaten lives and livelihoods but also have profound implications for food production and availability. In Benue’s case, the insecurity the state grapples with continues to undermine agricultural activities, displace farming communities, disrupt supply chains, and create a climate of uncertainty that adversely affects food security.

The state has rich natural resources and agricultural base as the rich nutrients deposits of alluvial soils that support bumper harvest have helped farmers in producing crops such as yams, rice, beans, cassava, potatoes, maize, soya beans, sorghum, millet and cocoyam on a large scale, earning it the “food basket of the nation” nickname.

Reports indicated that a majority of the youth in Sankera engage in the cultivation of at least a crop, most specifically, yam. A few others, it was gathered, combine yam production with cassava and rice while others cultivate yams, groundnuts and sorghum.

This axis, according to other reports, is the highest producer of yam in the country and arguably in the whole of Africa.

Other council areas ravaged by armed herders have comparative advantage in production of rice, corns, soya beans and beans.

The Story So Far

The security challenges facing the state date back to 2014 when the state witnessed the influx of Fulani herdsmen who found the grass in Benue valley very nutritious for their cattle.

Prior to 2014, anytime there was a report of destruction of farm crops by cattle, both parties: farmers and Fulani herdsmen devised amicable ways of resolving such conflicts. But from 2014 till date, the crises have become a constant and increasing occurrence, and what replaced the usual Fulani herdsmen in such instances are armed herders who plunged the once peaceful state into turmoil.

This development, it was learnt, forced many people to now describe the invasion of armed herders in the state as something beyond grazing rights and routes but outright occupation of the state.

In addressing this menace, the immediate past administration led by Governor Samuel Ortom enacted the Open-grazing Prohibition and Ranching Establishment Law of  2017. But ironically, the law has had little effect on the security of lives and properties as armed herders continue to flood the state, causing huge destruction, particularly since the present administration assumed office in 2023.

As of the time the past administration exited office, no fewer than 21 local government areas were ravaged by armed herders with over two million displaced persons scattered over the IDP camps in the state. Some of the victims that were lucky were able to put up with their relatives in cities.

Many of the displaced citizens were artisanal farmers who were forced to leave their farmlands behind in search of safety.

This, many observers have argued, continues to pose grave dangers to food security in the state and country because a majority of the farmers that have been displaced find it difficult to engage in farming activities.

Speaking on the impact of the attacks last week in Makurdi, the Amnesty International Programme Director, Mrs Barbara Magaji, disclosed that 18 out of the 23 local government areas (LGAs) in the state were constantly under security threats by armed attackers.

She said: “These attacks are significantly affecting food security and livelihoods because the affected communities are farmers and displacement makes them unable to carry out any farming activity.

“As of March 2023 when the last counting and documentation was done, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and host communities accommodated a total of 489,245 IDPs.”

The state chairman of Yam Farmers Association of Nigeria in Benue, Madam Scholastical Mbuweze Amua, also confirmed to Sunday Tribune that security challenges have seriously affected produce of yam in the state.

She also hinted that levies imposed by the government and various groups across the state were equally responsible for the high cost of yam.

Madam Amua said, “Benue is one of the highest producers of yam in the country. Despite the insecurity that ravaged the state, the state still produces yam in large quantities.

“For instance, no fewer than 40 truckloads of tubers of yam are being transported out of the state on a daily basis, she confirmed, adding that the taxes and levies were taken a huge toll on farmers.”

Further checks by Sunday Tribune, however, revealed that before the plague of insecurity reared its head, about 200 truckloads of yam used to leave the state for other parts of the country and neighbouring nations like Cameroon and Niger Republic.

A truck driver, known as Daniel, who specialises in the loading of yams from the state to other parts of the country corroborated Madam Amua, saying that the drop in yam produce in the state was as a result of insecurity and multiple taxation.

“Benue is actually blessed with different crops such as yarm, corn, rice, soya beans, beniseed as well as fruits like mango, orange and others.

“But the security challenge has affected production of food crops in the state,” he said while also identifying multiple levies as another major challenge which, he said, affected the cost of food crops that leave the state.

He added: “For instance, the distance between Zaki Biam, which is mostly known as yam town, and Gboko is about 100 kilometres, but you will meet not less than 40 roadblocks where security officials manning them will ask for taxes.”

Security Challenges Dwindling —Govt

Meanwhile, the state government has stated that the security issue is reducing gradually as some displaced persons have begun to return to their ancestral homes while adding that it is addressing food security with various measures already put in place.

Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), James Iorpuu, told Sunday Tribune on Wednesday that the population inside some of the IDP camps is depleting as the inmates are returning to their ancestral homes to farm.

He said, “This was made possible by the efforts of the governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia, who has consistently worked in collaboration with security chiefs towards the subsequent deployment of security operatives to the state.

“If you visit some of the IDP camps such as Abagena, Ukpan, Ortese and others, you will discover that some of the displaced persons have gone back home.”

Also speaking on government efforts aimed at improving food security, Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Moses Ogbaji, argued that the large scale of insecurity ravaging some parts of the north was responsible for food scarcity in the country lately.

Prof Ogbaji stated that despite the insecurity challenge, Benue State still produces enough food crops which are conveyed outside the state.

He said, “You can go to the major highways across the state and witness the number of trucks loaded with food items that leave the state on a daily basis.”

He said that Benue cannot do it alone but needed the contribution of other states in the northern part of the country known for food production to join in producing enough to adequately feed the country.

According to him, “Benue can not do it alone, there is nowhere in the whole world where a state only feeds the whole country, not even in the USA.”

He, however, highlighted positive measures the administration had put in place to tackle the food crisis.

According to him, the state government gave out fertiliser at subsidised rates, and gave out improved seedlings to farmers.

“We also encouraged the cultivation of vegetables, especially in the riverine areas where we have FADAMA, the one that will mature early.

“We have also approached the federal government to assist farmers in 24 locations that are good for FADAMA. We have submitted names of farmers and they promised to contact the farmers directly to send the inputs,” he said.

He also appealed to the federal government and other stakeholders to further give the state support so as to continue to play “the food basket of the nation” role.