Sources disclose that capital importation in Nigeria’s agriculture sector tumbled by 99.23 percent from $237.83m in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $1.76m in the first quarter of 2022. This signifies that there was a 99.23 percent decline within three months.
This was contained in the Nigerian capital importation report for Q1 2022 released by the National Bureau of Statistics. According to the report, it disclosed that at least 352 farmers had been killed and kidnapped in the past 12 months, amid rising insecurity in Nigeria.
In the figures obtained from the Nigeria security tracker, it showed that the 352 comprised 216 killed farmers and 136 kidnapped farmers. However, the figures are said to exceed 352 as there were cases of killings and kidnappings of farmers by unknown numbers.
Not only is the agricultural sector affected, but the rising insecurity has also affected the ease of doing business in the country, as a 2019 world bank annual ratings on the ease of doing business, ranked Nigeria 131 among 190 economies.
The insecurity challenge has constituted a threat to lives and properties which has seen a large number of farmers killed on their farmlands, while those who narrowly escaped are faced with the fear of returning which has affected food production in the country.
The insecurity crisis has discouraged local and foreign investors from investing in the agricultural sector, which is stifling and retarding socio-economic development as well as posing a serious challenge to the Gross Domestic output
Due to the halt of agricultural activities in some parts of the country, following the insecurity crisis, food Security which is essential for the country, has declined, thereby threatening food supply which has led to the increase in food prices.
Nigeria is known to be one of the largest producers of yam, cassava, and cowpea. Ironically, the country remains a food deficit nation with over-dependence on the importation of food commodities, grains, as well as livestock products.
It is estimated that Nigeria has cultivable land of 71 million hectares, yet only half is currently used for farming. Many have attributed this reason to the worrisome insecurity crisis that has seen herdsmen gruesomely attack and kill farmers, who a large percentage of them helplessly continue to abandon their farmlands.
This has seriously affected the country, as a large percentage of its population continues to groan under soaring food prices, coupled with hunger, malnutrition, and poverty, with an estimated 80 percent of its population living on less than $1 a day.
The government of Nigeria continues to handle the issue of insecurity with levity and disdain which has led to the decline of local and foreign investors in the Agricultural sector in the country.
No investor will be ecstatic to invest in a country that is ravaged by a widespread insecurity crisis, because it will pose a serious challenge to their investments. They will rather avoid such territories than avoid the risk of loss.
There is growing evidence that investing in underdeveloped and developing countries’ agricultural sectors is among the most efficient ways to reduce poverty and hunger, as such investment can generate a wide range of developmental benefits.
Unfortunately, due to the insecurity crisis in Nigeria, it will no doubt lead to lack of investors, especially in the agricultural sector which will no doubt affect the food production output as well as stagnate production.
The state of insecurity is currently at a frightening level which portends serious adverse implications for the country’s economic growth. It’s high time the government does something serious about the insecurity crisis in the country, because it will surely aggravate Nigeria’s capacity to attract and retain new investments if no serious measures are put in place.
