Food prices start to soar as farm output reduces as a result of attacks by Fulani cattle herdsmen

FOOD prices have begun soaring across Nigeria as agricultural output starts falling as farmers refrain from going to their farms across northern Nigeria due to the continued menace of Fulani cattle herdsmen who constantly attack them.

Over recent years, Nigeria has been wracked by continued communal violence as repeated clashes between herdsmen and local farmers, particularly in the Middle Belt, has led to hundreds of deaths. Heavily-armed herdsmen have spread mayhem across rural Nigeria, attacking farming villages, killing hundreds, mainly in the Middle Belt, which serves as the country's food basket.

Aondoana Kuhe, the chairman of the Benue State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, said that the current unchecked attacks on his members in the state will ultimately lead to a famine in the country. He added that most areas, where food crops were cultivated, had been occupied by the herdsmen while farmers, who escaped being killed, had fled to urban communities where there is relative safety.

Mr Kuhe said: “Benue is ranked among the highest producers of rice, yam, soya bean, corn and sesame seeds but when our farmers can no longer assess their farms, how do we produce food crops for the nation?"

He noted with regrets that 14 out of the 23 local government areas in the state reputed for large production of food crops, were currently under attacks by the Fulani. Similarly, the Benue State agriculture commissioner James Anbua, said farmers in the state had lost over N8bn on rice alone since the attacks started on New Year’s Day.

Mr Anbua added: "Two local government areas Guma and Logo produce 25,000 tonnes of rice and soya bean but there are just a few in the market because the ones that are due for harvest could not be taken from the farms. Benue is ranked among the fifth largest producer of rice in the country with the expectation of a bumper harvest this year."

He stressed that attackers set ablaze barns of yams and other food crops after feeding their animals with enough quantity thereby making the food production ratio of the state to drop by about 45%. Some market women subsequently decried the rise in prices of food items between February and June this year as a result of the attacks on farmers by herdsmen.

For instance, they claimed that in February, a tuber of yam was sold for N200 in Makurdi, but that as of June, it cost between N400 and N500. One rice seller at Wadata market, Makurdi, Apeh Ogbu, said the price of every food items had jumped up, as in January, a mudu of local rice was sold for N350 but that the same measurement now sells for N500.

Chief Olatunji Bandele, the national publicity secretary of the Agbekoya Farmers Association, added: “Pepper, tomatoes and onions are very expensive now. The entire country still depends on northern farmers to produce the various varieties from their farms.

“Generally speaking, most of the food items that come from the north are on the high side in terms of prices. I think the price of garri is now N7,000 per bag and food items that come from the north like yam and beans have become very expensive.”

Segun Adewumi, the president of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, added: “Farmers are now being disturbed by herders and I believe this disturbance, if not addressed in earnest, will affect the prices of food, especially yam.”