Nigeria food crisis requires farm security and productivity, experts warn

Stakeholders, including the United Nations and agricultural advocacy groups, are warning that Nigeria’s food crisis requires more than emergency relief to resolve. While the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is expanding the National Community Food Bank Programme to provide nutritional support to vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women, experts argue that food banks alone cannot fix the underlying issue.

Critics and humanitarian officials emphasize that the government must address the insecurity preventing farmers from accessing their land. Conflicts, banditry, and displacement—particularly in Northern and North-Central regions—continue to disrupt production. The South West East North Of Nigeria Cord. Initiative (SOWENON) has called for expanded empowerment programmes and better financing for farmers to reverse declining productivity.

United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohammed Fall noted that declining international funding should encourage Nigeria to develop stronger domestic mechanisms. He stressed that securing farmlands, especially in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, is essential to restoring the country’s productive capacity and breaking the cycle of dependency on emergency food assistance.