Insecurity major challenge to agriculture in Nigeria

NGOZI OGBU, AN ENTREPRENEUR, FORMER MEMBER OF THE IMO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEM BLY for Okigwe State Constituency and former elected chairman of Okigwe local government council, has said that the insecurity ravaging the country, especially in the northeast and northwest, as well as the food basket states in the country, is the major challenge militating against farming and practice of other aspects of agriculture.

Ogbu, now in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector, said that most of the farmers in the northeast and northwest and other food basket states in the country have been forced to live inside internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps, abandoned their farms and could not have access to them any longer, and this has contributed to the scarcity of foods and other agriculture produce supply in local markets.

He spoke in an interview in Owerri during the unveiling of tractors and commissioning of an ultra modern office of JLN Agric Implementation Services Limited, an affiliate of United Statesbased JLN Construction Services, noted that agriculture used to be the mainstay of the nation, but has been abandoned by Nigerians even before the insecurity challenges came.

He described the attitude of Nigerians towards the practice of agriculture as unfortunate, and according to him, “agriculture used to be the mainstay of Nigeria but today in Nigeria, it has been abandoned. We have developed a passion for foreign products, foreign foods and other foreign things. We need to invest much in agriculture so that we can feed ourselves and export.”

Ogbu advised that subsistence agriculture should not be encouraged, “but we need to encourage farmers to go into intensive and mechanised farming. The government needs to assist farmers, because some of these equipment and farm tools for mechanized and commercial agriculture are expensive for an individual to acquire. It is the duty of the government to provide a good environment and give necessary assistance to farmers and those who want to go into mechanised farming to do so,” he stressed.

Chima Ifekwe, country representative of JLN, said that agriculture in Nigeria and Africa is still at the subsistence level, and as such it is not attractive to people. He noted that is why there are a lot of challenges, but “with these agricultural equipment and tools, the actual practice of agriculture would be easier and there will be food surplus and food security,” he said.