February 24, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian government has been promoting agriculture and agribusiness with an unusual vigour and in a manner that suggests that those in authority are oblivious of the frequent killings of farmers, especially in Benue state.
Benue, recognised as Nigeria’s food basket, has been grappling with a high rate of insecurity, especially since 2015 when the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over the realm of leadership at the federal level of governance.
The immediate past governor, Samuel Ortom, battled insecurity almost throughout his eight years in office and, perhaps, conducted mass burial of victims of herdsmen killing than any other leader in the state.
During this period, the farmers had deserted their farms to live in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps as refugees, with obvious implications to the economy, especially agriculture and agribusiness.
Unabated scourge
The ugly scenario has not abated since Ortom left office, contrary to the impression being created by the current leadership of governor Hyacinth Alia that Benue is relatively peaceful under his watch.
Recent media reports revealed that no fewer than 19 people were reportedly killed in a fresh attack on some communities in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State by bandits suspected to be armed herders less than two weeks ago.
Eye witness accounts explained that the attack began on Saturday (February 15) when 16 farmers were killed and their bodies thrown into River Katsina-Ala.
The farmers were said to be returning to their community in Mbanduwa ward when they were ambushed along the Kashimbila road and killed and their bodies subsequently dropped in River Katsina Ala.
Former governor Ortom has, however, accused his successor, Governor Alia, of covering up alleged mass burials in the state to make it appear that the state is peaceful under his watch.
In a granular detail through his media aide, Terver Akase, Ortom dismissed Alia’s claims, stating that mass burials have continued under the current administration, particularly in conflict-prone areas.“There have been countless mass burials under Alia’s administration due to attacks by herdsmen in Zones A, B, and C, notably in Ukum, Logo, Katsina-Ala, Kwande, Gwer East, Gwer West, Guma, Makurdi, Agatu, Otukpo, and other parts of the state. This government is only attempting to conceal the truth about the killings and mass burials,” Ortom said.
Benue imperative
Benue occupies a vital place in Nigeria’s economic development. According to a report by the world Food and Agriculture Organization in 1985, Nigeria is by far the world’s largest producer of yams, with 17 million tonnes annually, accounting for over 70–76 percent of global production. Most of this supply comes from the North Central state of Benue, where expectedly the largest market for the tuberous food and cash crop can be found.
Another report by Agrodemy, an agricultural-based company focused on reducing post-harvest loss using education and market access technology, revealed that Benue produces over 4 million metric tonnes of yam annually, making up 51% of the country’s total yam production.
An AI Overview showed that as of March 2024, there were 500,182 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Benue State with the majority living in host communities. The state government disclosed in April 2022 that Benue had over two million IDPs. This has obvious implications for the economy, especially on inflation, given the recent CPI rebasing.
Inflationary outlook
Nigeria’s inflationary outlook has undergone a significant shift following the recent rebasing of the CPI by the NBS. The latest data for January 2025 shows headline inflation reactions at 24.48%, a sharp 10.32 basis points decline from December 2024’s 34.80%.
The NBS maintains that the surge in food inflation continues to challenge the economy with firms shutting down over high operation costs while households experience steep drop in living standard spiked by high cost of living.
The NBS also explained that worsening insecurity across the country, especially in the North which is the nation’s food basket, is behind the high cost of food. It noted that the mass food producing areas of the North have been under the siege of insecurity in the past nine years.
In states like Niger, Benue, Plateau, Borno, Katsina, Taraba and others, the farming communities have deserted their farm lands where they were displaced by bandits, herdsmen, terrorists and kidnappers; and are now living in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
Unfortunately, there are no signs that the ugly trend is likely to improve in 2025 given the continued spate of killings and abductions in the North since the beginning of the Bola Tinubu-led government in May 2023, and since the year as has been the case in Benue.
Way out
Policy experts maintain that the government and central bank must move beyond statistical adjustments and focus on real solutions to address inflation by putting in place Targeted Food Security Policies. Although, food’s weight in the CPI has reduced under the new CPI nomenclature, food inflation remains the highest at 26.08 per cent.
Also, urgent interventions in agriculture, logistics, and forex management are needed to stabilize food prices.
A major casualty of the insecurity-driven food inflation is Backward integration – a practice where companies are encouraged to cultivate their own raw materials by purchasing from their suppliers or establishing their own farms, for instance, to grow produce for their factories.
The consumer goods firms, in particular, keyed into the scheme and have since taken giant strides in its implementation.
This is to the benefit of the MSMEs, especially those engaged in the agriculture and transport value chain. But the receding fortune of the consumer goods firms suggest a strong negative impact on the agribusiness operators.
These are among the large firms that patronize agribusiness operators for the supply of raw materials and other services to promote backward integration.
The high interest rate at about 30 percent and the general unfavourable macro-economic climate exert pressure on the agribusiness value chain which is largely populated by the MSMEs.
Some business operators predict that the continued insecurity and inflationary trend will definitely impact the agribusiness sub-sector — creating job losses, business failures and huge tax revenue loss for the government.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
