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Nigeria’s food security challenges may be getting worse as farmers in the country are reporting a decline in the production of some stable food, blaming a variety of reasons that include flooding due to climate change, inflation, insecurity and the fluctuation of the Naira.
This is just as the United States Department of Agriculture has projected a slight decrease in the production of rice, millet, cassava, maize and soybeans in Nigeria for the year 2024.
Although Nigeria remains the highest producer of food crops like cassava and maize globally, gathering data for policy and investment decisions has never been a priority for the Ministry of Agriculture over the years.
Despite an increase in the number of farmers, production levels of some essential crops in Nigeria is expected to experience a fluctuating trend with possible decrease in the 2023/2024 marketing year.
Although in the year 2022, food production index saw an increase, reaching 119.9 index points and even though experts said that this growth was modest, it was attributed to Nigerian farmers who despite several challenges, demonstrated resilience to flood and insecurity.
