FG to ameliorate flood effects on farmers, says minister

  Kebbi, Jigawa, others lose 95% crops to flood

The minister of agriculture, Alhaji Mohammadu Sabo Nanono has promised that the Federal Government would give inputs of seed, chemicals and fertilizer to farmers affected by the flood. He made the disclosure at a press conference preceding the World Food Day.

He said that under the Ecology Sustainability Committee in which government has approved 600 billion naira package to ensure that the dry season farming would not be adversely affected to ensure quick mitigation of the flood impact on food production

Nanono said that ‘’we have already intimated the presidency about the states affected by flood, and we are going to support them with good seeds and other inputs for rice, sorghum and maize for dry season farming. Those places that have lost crops in the flood will be supported financially and with direct inputs provision.’’

 

The Serikin noma (king of farmers), Kebbi state, Alhaji Abdullahi Maigandu has said that more than 95 percent of farms in Kebbi state were washed away by the recent floods in the  state just as the Chairman of Auyo local government area of Jigawa State Hon. Algebra Umar Musa raised the alarm that food crops worth over 35 billion naira were lost to flash floods in the state. Both respondents revealed these facts while interacting with Food Farm News in Brinin Kebbi, Kebbi and Auyo, Jigawa states respectively, recently.

Maigandu said the flood in Kebbi was very devastating and that the state had not experienced such in 30 years. “Kebbi has about arable 600,000 hectares of fadama where you can have three, four crops in a year. Of that, 95 percent is under water although, it has started subsiding, after a month of devastation, and if care is not taken, there will be hunger in Kebbi.”

He explained that the all the crops were washed away by the flood which increased the water level in the fadama to about two meters from the normal half-a-metre, at most. “Eventually, all crops, call it whatever name, rice, sorghum, maize, millet, perishable things within the Rima flood plains are gone.”

On why the losses suffered by farmers were that much, he explained:”During the last dry season the price of paddy went up from between 1,000 and 10,000 naira to as much as 20,000 naira for 75 kg bag; it was not that there was no paddy but the demand went up; also, previously, there were no off-takers. Now, there are off-takers and people thought “we have done so well in the dry season why can’t we triple that in wet season?”  So a lot of people went massively into fadama. They bought inputs at high prices, fertilizer which was formerly 5,000 naira at between 10,000 and 15,000 naira. The lowest amount you can get urea is 12,000 to 15,000 naira. So people went out of their way by either selling their assets or some bargaining.”

He called on the governments to do more for the downtrodden farmers to help them find their feet again: “The government has to do something for those people, though they have given them palliatives to keep body and soul together, they should do more.”

A renowned farmer in Kebbi state, Dr Hassan Argungu also corroborated the Serikin noma by saying that the losses of farmers Sokoto and Kebbi states were colossal.

 Dr. Argungu who said most of the farmers suffered colossal losses that wouldn’t be ameliorated without government’s intervention explained that the flood was preventable     had the measures that would lead to lessening the effect of the flood water downstream like the construction of dykes to checkmate flowing of water into low land areas in massive ways.

A farmer in Brinin Kebbi, Malam Hamza Mohammed Yeldu said he lost all he laboured for in his farm to the flood adding that it would take assistance from the government for farmers to rise again.

In his reaction, Hon. Musa, revealed that all that had been planted with the support of the ATASP-1 and other donor agencies were washed away by the flood, making farmers sustain colossal losses as a result of the flood, adding that if not attended to might reduce drastically expected food production from the state.

He said: ”Our farmers being hard working had during the dry season and also during the rainy season, planted seeds gotten from ATASP-1 as a form of palliative but all those had been washed away and the farmers are currently experiencing difficulty because of the flooding due to the heavy rain falls and the overflow of the river basin.”

Hon. Musa who disclosed that many of their farmers could no longer access their farms from their homes due to the flooding, said the local government had also provided sacks to be sand-filled to prevent the flood water from entering their environment and homes.

Speaking to Food Farm News, leader of a women farmers’ association in Hadiyo community of Jigawa state, Salamatu Muhammad disclosed that two of their members’ rice and sorghum farms, their homes and roads had been submerged by the flood.

The Secretary Cassava Innovation Platform, Danlandi Isah Kila said that the cassava he planted, which was expected to be harvested in a month’s time was totally destroyed due to the flooding in the Gwaram Local Government  area of Jigawa State.

Kila who disclosed that he lost up to two million naira due to the effect of the flood which destroyed his farm, said “the flood is devastating as even the bridge connecting this place to other areas have broken down due to the force at which the flood came with.” 

He lamented that “no support has yet been rendered by the Federal Government, not even seed or any form of support and that is not helping the farmers who are currently helpless” and called on the government to come to the aid of the farmer so as to prevent scarcity of food.

However, Food Farm News noticed that in a never-say-die spirit, most of the farmers have already put the losses suffered behind them and were already mobilizing for dry season farming.