.Consumers groan as food inflation hits roof top
.Fake fertilizers hampering bountiful yields- FADA
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Farmers, traders and transporters across Nigeria have raised fresh concerns over a deepening food crisis, warning that worsening insecurity is disrupting farming activities, reducing output and pushing food prices beyond the reach of millions of households.
Stakeholders who spoke with Daily Champion in Plateau, Oyo, Kwara and Ebonyi states said persistent attacks by bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements have altered farming calendars, forced farmers to abandon vast portions of their lands and increased transportation costs, thereby worsening inflation and threatening national food security.
They warned that unless urgent and coordinated action is taken, the country could face more severe food shortages and widespread hunger.
In Plateau State, a farmer from Bokkos Local Government Area, Mr. Bitrus Maren, said many farmers were yet to recover from losses incurred during the previous farming season, stressing that insecurity in several communities had continued to limit access to farmland and negatively affect productivity.
According to him, from the security challenge, the high cost of fertilisers and agrochemicals and the poor prices received by farmers after harvest have made farming increasingly unattractive.
Maren explained that while a 50kg bag of NPK 15-15-15 fertiliser currently sells for about N53,000, NPK 20-10-10 and Urea cost around N50,000 each, farmers were forced to sell maize after harvest at between N18,000 and N20,000 per bag.
He lamented that a farmer now needs proceeds from three bags of maize to purchase just one bag of fertiliser, leaving producers with little or no profit.
He also raised concerns over the activities of unscrupulous individuals adulterating fertilisers and selling fake products to unsuspecting farmers, thereby compounding their difficulties.
Maren, however, welcomed Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s announcement during June 15, 2026, groundbreaking ceremony of the Special Agro-Processing Zone in Heipang, Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area, where the governor disclosed that modalities had been concluded for the procurement of about 500 trucks of fertiliser.
While expressing optimism over the initiative, he urged the state government to ensure that genuine farmers benefit from the scheme, noting that over 80 per cent of farmers in Plateau were unable to access government-supplied fertilisers in previous years.
He further called for greater security deployment in rural communities to enable farmers to cultivate without fear and achieve bumper harvests.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Fertiliser and Agro-Allied Dealers Association (FADA), Plateau State chapter, Geoffrey Monday Bisat, expressed concern over the increasing circulation of counterfeit fertilisers, describing the development as a threat to food security.
Bisat said the association would not tolerate adulteration and had already begun collaborating with security agencies to identify and prosecute those involved in the illegal trade.
“What affects the farmers affects us because they are the backbone of the economy and our source of livelihood,” he said.
Although he acknowledged the rising cost of fertilisers and agrochemicals, he attributed the development to disruptions in the global petrochemical industry and prevailing international market pressures, expressing confidence that prices would eventually stabilise.
He advised farmers to purchase agricultural inputs only from registered dealers and encouraged members of the public to report suspected cases of fake products.
In Oyo State, stakeholders in the food value chain warned that increasing attacks on farmers and transporters have severely disrupted supplies to major markets, especially in Ibadan.
A trader at Bodija Market, Ibadan, Alhaja Adejoke Ige, said anxiety has become a permanent feature among traders who now spend nights praying that trucks conveying food items arrive safely.
According to her, several trucks carrying farm produce have fallen victim to bandits, making many transporters reluctant to continue the business.
“A basket of tomatoes that sold for ₦12,000 last year now goes for ₦28,000, while a mudu of beans which sold for ₦1,200 has risen to ₦2,400,” she lamented.
She explained that about 90 per cent of food consumed in Ibadan comes from Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa zones, regarded as the state’s major food baskets.
However, since 2022, farmers in communities such as Igangan, Tede and Saki have increasingly abandoned farmlands located more than two kilometres away from their villages because of fear of attacks by kidnappers and bandits.
A prominent yam farmer in Ido Local Government Area, Mr. Kazeem Gbadamosi, said insecurity had forced him to cut cultivation from 20 acres to six acres.
“Anything far from the house is for bandits,” he said, adding that he lost two tractors to kidnappers during the last farming season.
He noted that when food production declines in Oke-Ogun, prices automatically rise in Ibadan because the city depends heavily on the area for yams, maize and livestock supplies.
Even after successful harvests, transporting produce to urban markets has become another hurdle.
A truck driver plying the Saki-Iseyin-Ibadan route, who identified himself simply as Fassasi, recounted how bandits intercepted his truck, collected all the cash he had and eventually carted away his consignment of yams, beans and maize despite his pleas.
According to him, many drivers have abandoned the trade because of the dangers involved, while those who still operate now factor additional “security charges” into transport costs.
A trader at Omi Adio market, Mrs. Funke Ajani, said truck deliveries from Igangan have dropped drastically.
“Drivers who used to bring ten trucks every Thursday now bring only three. Some demand an additional ₦150,000 to cover payments to ‘boys on the road’,” she said.
She explained that the extra costs are eventually transferred to consumers, thereby making tomatoes, peppers, beans, yam and plantains more expensive.
Farmers and traders in Oyo State called for the rehabilitation of roads linking farming communities to markets and demanded better support for security agencies.
Cassava farmer Abayomi Sunday from Akinyele Local Government Area urged the government to strengthen local security structures, saying local hunters possess better knowledge of forest routes than conventional security personnel.
He advocated the provision of motorcycles, communication gadgets, drones and adequate logistics for Amotekun operatives and local vigilantes.
Another trader, Mrs. Fatia Hassan, who transports tomatoes from Iseyin to Ibadan weekly, called for security escorts for trucks conveying food items and the introduction of crop insurance against losses arising from farmer-herder conflicts.
According to her, crop insurance would encourage banks to resume lending to farmers, while ranching could help reduce recurring clashes between farmers and pastoralists.
The recent abduction of pupils and students at LA Primary School and Community Grammar School in Ahoro-Essinle community in Oriire Local Government Area has further heightened fear among residents and worsened anxiety within the farming and trading community.
The same concerns are being echoed in Kwara State, where residents say insecurity has disrupted farming activities in Kaiama, Kosubosu, Gwanara and surrounding communities, leading to soaring prices of yam flour and other food products for which the area is known.
A farmer from Kosubosu, Jibri Sanusi, said many people have lost their lives to kidnappers in recent months, forcing others to reduce farming activities.
He argued that lasting peace and the establishment of effective local security arrangements remain the only way to restore confidence and guarantee unhindered agricultural production.
Some residents also complained that criminal elements often receive light punishment when arrested, thereby emboldening others.
In Ebonyi State, a farmer from Abakaliki, Mr. Israel Ekele Mbam, estimated that the number of active farmers and the size of cultivated farmlands have declined by about 50 per cent because of the worsening security situation.
He said many farmers now restrict cultivation to plots located close to their homes because farmlands have become death traps where kidnappers and armed criminals lie in wait for victims.
According to him, repeated cultivation of the same plots due to inability to access distant lands has reduced soil fertility and lowered yields.
Mbam noted that labour costs have also risen sharply because many farm workers have abandoned agriculture for safer occupations.
He explained that the shortage of labour and the high wages demanded by the few available workers have compelled farmers to reduce their acreage, thereby limiting overall production.
He further observed that transporters are increasingly reluctant to travel to hinterlands and northern states to evacuate agricultural produce, while those willing to take the risk transfer the additional costs to consumers.
“The number of people going to farms has dropped drastically because nobody wants to die before his time. Bandits and kidnappers now wait for farmers in their fields. More consumers are chasing fewer food items, and that is why food inflation continues to rise,” he said.
Stakeholders across the states surveyed agreed that restoring security remains the most important step towards addressing the country’s worsening food crisis.
They called for increased deployment of security personnel to rural communities, support for local vigilantes, mechanisation of agriculture to reduce dependence on labour, rehabilitation of rural roads and reforms that would improve farmers’ access to affordable inputs and finance.
They also urged governments at all levels to review taxes and levies imposed on agricultural produce and implement policies that would encourage increased production.
According to them, unless farmers are able to return safely to their fields and food supply chains are protected, the country risks deeper food shortages, rising inflation and a worsening hunger crisis that could threaten the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.
