Apart from the sexual and physical abuse of women farmers by itinerant herdsmen, NCHETACHI CHUKWUAJAH writes that sustained crisis involving farmers and herders threatens Nigeria’s food availability and security, while posing as an economic disadvantage to women.
Justina and Grace (surnames withheld) have known one occupation all their lives – farming. Having been born and raised in different villages in Guma and Makurdi Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Benue State, these women have been groomed and immersed in the intricacies of farming.
In the years before the escalation of farmers-herders’ crisis in the state, these women farmers were lords in their own right. Prior to the attack on her Tsevembe village, in Guma LGA in early May 2023, Justina cultivated yam, cassava, rice and many other crops on seven to eight hectares of land. But after the death of her only child during an earlier herders’ attack in 2021, Justina could only farm on two hectares with the help of others.
Now at a camp for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Ichwa, along UniAgric Road, North Bank, Makurdi, she has to beg for food or scavenge for grains of rice from winnowed rice chaffs in rice mills. This breaks Justina’s heart.
She said, “I practically live like a dog now unlike when I was at home. Then, I farmed and ate very well. I can’t even invite anyone to share in the food I eat here because it is unpleasant.
“I used to farm different things like yam, beniseed, cassava and rice. I had 100 lines on my farm. Each line contained 50 heaps. Because of this crisis, feeding has become a problem. Back in the village, even if you don’t have food, those who have will cook and you will eat enough.”
It is the same situation for Grace, who said her farm in Tseubebe village, Makurdi, has become inaccessible as a result of the continued attack and occupation by herders. “I farmed 160 lines of yam, two and half hectares of rice, beniseed, cassava and vegetables. I can’t even go near my farm right now because I may be killed,” she said.
Herders’ attacks are widespread, vicious and blood-curdling
In a report released in January 2024, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) said the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi recorded 119 attacks by herdsmen against members of the state in 2023 alone, which resulted in over 400 deaths and over 100 others wounded, raped or kidnapped. In his comments on the report, Father Remigius Ihiyula, a project partner of ACN and head, Foundation for Justice Development and Peace (FJPD), said the number is only indicative of attacks reported, raising fears that the death figures could be higher.
“In at least two cases, the number of dead is described merely as ‘scores’ and in others ‘many feared dead,’ so the full number of fatalities is certainly much higher,” said Father Ihiyula.
In the period between 2015 and March 2023, the state recorded 5,138 deaths in various attacks in 18 of the 23 local government areas of the state.
Former governor of the state, Samuel Ortom, in 2018 had said herders’ attacks caused damage to properties worth N400 billion, equivalent of over $1 billion at the time.
Apart from Benue State, many other states in Nigeria have recorded cases of herdsmen attacks. From North-Central states of Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi; far northern Kaduna, Borno, Bauchi and Sokoto; South-East states of Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi; to South-West states of Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ondo states, the story is the same – herders leave death, displacement and destruction in their trail.
A report released in 2020 showed that between 2017 and May 2, 2020, there were 654 attacks by herdsmen, resulting in 2,539 deaths and the kidnap of 253 people. The report, authored by Jose Luis Bazen, an independent researcher and analyst, noted that herdsmen assaults against farmers in Nigeria were “regular, systemic (and) targeted attacks.”
In 2023, during the review of a book titled, ‘The Root Cause of Farmers-herders Crisis in North-central Nigeria,’ lecturers at the University of Abuja said the conflict in the zone led to over 60,000 deaths since 2001.
Dr Olowu Olagunju, one of the lecturers, said, “The farmer-herder crisis has been reported in 22 out of 36 states in Nigeria with the North-Central zone having the highest incidences in the country. The crisis has resulted in lethal violence, which accounted for over 60,000 deaths since 2001, a death toll that is higher than that of Boko Haram insurgency.”
A 2023 Christmas Eve herdsmen attack on many communities in Plateau State was reported to have left 112 dead, mainly women and children, with 47 others injured.
Within the first four months of 2024, there have been many attacks on communities across Nigeria, including that of April 18 in Tilengpat Village, Pushit District, Mangu LGA of Plateau State that left 14 females and one male brutally murdered and that of April 28, in Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu State, where four people were killed.
Despite efforts of state governments, such as the signing of anti-grazing laws, the situation has not unabated.
‘Food basket of the nation’ under attack
Benue State is touted as the ‘Food Basket of the Nation’ and very much so given its agricultural potential and large expanse of arable land spanning over 300 kilometres. With over 80 percent of its population involved in small scale farming, the state is a huge producer of various crops like yam, rice, cassava, beniseed, beans, maize, guinea corn, varieties of citrus fruits and tuber crops.
Prior to herdsmen attacks, the state extensively cultivated cassava, yam, groundnut, rice, maize and other staple crops yearly. It is one of the largest producers of rice in Nigeria, producing 1.5 million metric tonnes (MT) of rice yearly.
As at 2005, it produced 11.08 percent of cassava in Nigeria with 3,548 1000 MT of cassava. The figure increased to 3,559 4800 MT and 3,597 2800 MT in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
In 2009 and 2010, Benue’s yam production was 2,902 8000 MT and 2,954 4100 MT, respectively. It increased to 2,874 3400 and 2,994 3000 in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
There has since been a reduction in the production of these crops in the state and many others. Owing to sustained herdsmen attacks, which have led to displacement, destruction of farmlands and loss of livelihoods, and other devastations like flooding, Nigeria is faced with imminent food crisis as many farmers have abandoned their farmlands, which have either been set ablaze or used as fodder for safety.
Like many farmers in Benue State, Akor Yar, the Secretary of Baka IDPs camp, Makurdi, said he lost his crops and livestock to an attack in his village in 2017. He has been displaced since herdsmen attacked his Mbalagh community in Makurdi LGA and was forced to come to the camp after another “very bloody” attack on his maternal home in Yeluwatta in 2021 when his maternal uncle, his wife and five children were killed.
“I was not only into crop farming, I had livestock. I had close to 20 pigs, 15 goats and two rams but they are nowhere to be found now. If you look at that alone, the loss I incurred is unimaginable.
“Before the attack, I had two bags of beniseed inside the house that they burnt; same thing for my guinea corn. My cassava in the farm turned to their place of grazing. I was unable to remove even one tuber of yam from my farm,” he said.
‘Farmer-herders’ crisis a challenge to farming
Dr Torkwase Iorlamen, a lecturer with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Joseph Sarwuan Tarkaa University of Agriculture, Makurdi, said the inability of farmers like Justina, Grace and Yar to farm portends a food crisis for the country in the long run.
With a population of over 200 million that is estimated to reach over 400 million by 2050 as a result of the population growth rate of 3.2 percent, a declining food production level poses grave concern.
“The farmer-herder clashes have a very negative effect on food security. Food security has two aspects: availability and accessibility. Food is available when farmers have all at their disposal; be it land, inputs and even their environment to carry out production.
“The threat of farmer-herders’ crisis has posed a serious problem to these factors. The farmers are displaced from their lands which is the very first factor of production. They have no access to farmland; they are where they are helpless, so farming activities automatically have ceased because they have been forcefully ejected out of their land for fear of being killed. This results to little or no production.
“The farmers-herders crisis has a long-term effect. In the short-term, it may not be visualised but in the long-term, we will run into a food crisis because the population is increasing while production is decreasing. There will be no availability talk more of accessibility and when availability is affected, accessibility becomes a challenge. Prices of food will rise, posing a challenge for buyers and leading to poverty. If the government does not come in to take people back to their ancestral homes, there may be famine in a very short time,” Dr Iorlamen said.
Already, Nigeria’s crop production growth fell to 1.5 percent in Q2 2023 from 3.26 percent in Q1 2019. In 2022, the country spent N1.9 trillion on food importation to meet its food and local agriculture production shortfalls. However, food prices have continued to soar, with prices of staple foods like rice, yam, beans and garri increasing by over a 100 percent in the last few months. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the average change in prices of goods and services, has been on the increase, reaching 33.2 percent as at March 2024.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also revealed that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the agriculture sector fell by 73.8 percent to $95.8 million (N44.2 billion) in 2022 from $366.07 million (168.7 billion) in 2021.
Professor Adeola Adenikinju, Head, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, said the displacement of people due to farmer-herder crisis is an added burden to the cost of governance. Added to this is soaring food inflation rate, which is at 40.01 percent year-on-year as at March 2024; increased unemployment rate and loss of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 23.3 percent of which agriculture contributed to in half year 2022, decreasing to 21 percent in Q2 2023.
Professor Adenikinju said, “When people are displaced, it is additional costs that government has to bear as they are not in the day-to-day cost of governance but with the displacement, these are extra burdens and money diverted to taking care of these people also means money that is not available for education, for health and for other services that are needed by the citizens. That is costing the government extra resources that could be utilised elsewhere.
“When people are displaced and cannot go to their farms, it threatens food security and availability of food in areas that are food-deficit, especially the urban areas.
“You also find the effect of that on inflation. Part of the reason the inflation rate has been intractable in spite of all the efforts of government, the Central Bank and monetary policy authority is because of food inflation. Food inflation has continued to soar even when core inflation is moderating, reason being that supply is falling because of this herders’ crisis and rise in transportation costs.”
Loss of livelihood for women farmers
Asides the emotional burden of farmers-herders’ crisis, women farmers also have to deal with the loss of livelihood that comes with it. For people who have known and mastered the art of farming and its seasons, being forced out of their farms strikes an economic chord.
Without a source of livelihood, women farmers, who account for 37 percent of smallholder farmers, are economically disadvantaged. Due to security threats, most are constrained to beg for food or depend on the benevolence of people who donate to IDPs, while others take to menial jobs like working in rice mills, hawking, among others, to survive in the camps. In most IDP camps in the country, women and children are the major occupants as men typically leave to other places in search of job opportunities.
With women constituting 70 to 80 percent of agricultural labour force, as they are responsible for such agronomic activities as food processing, marketing and preservation, Dr Iorlamen said forceful ejection of women from farmlands portends huge manpower and economic loss. Currently, and in spite of their huge contribution to agriculture, women farmers have limited access to land, credit facilities, training on farm input and advice, technology, crop insurance, among others.
Dr Iorlamen said, “Female farmers contribute highly to food production. In fact, in cultures peculiar to mine, it is women that do most of the agronomic practices. The males majorly do the ridging or heap making but apart from that, it is the women that do the planting, weeding, application of fertiliser and even up to harvesting.
“The female farmers are not just suffering herders’ abuse; they are suffering emotional trauma and displacement from their land. So, the activities they anchor on in the farm are no more there. They are not only being harassed sexually, they are also undergoing psychological trauma and trauma alone is a diminishing factor in production.”
Impact on manufacturing industries
It is a known fact that agriculture plays a huge role in the manufacturing sector. Agricultural products and its various value chains are the live-wire of manufacturing companies. Already, manufacturers, under the aegis of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), lamented that the spate of insecurity in the country since 2003 has further compounded means of sourcing raw materials for production.
“We have inadequate microeconomic environment; we have limited raw material supply and in some cases, insecurity has further compounded our means of sourcing raw materials,” the Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajati-Quadri, said.
Dr Iorlamen added that the situation has a spill-over effect on employment. “Agriculture has a lot to do with Nigeria’s economy especially in the establishment and running of industries. Since raw materials from the agricultural aspect are low, the industrial sector will also suffer inadequate supply to meet up their maximum production.
“If the industries are operating at a minimal level, employment will also be low as employment is also a part of economic factors. There will be low employment; people will be laid-off. This issue of food insecurity due to low production will also affect the economy, the industrial sector and rate of employment.”
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