Kaduna killings put farming under threat, ActionAid, AFAN speak

The recent Kaduna killings of people including farmers has put farming and food security under serious threat.

Last Monday in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna state, about nine farmers were killed along with others while many were kidnapped thereby putting continuous farming into a serious threat in the community.

The Deputy Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Mrs. Suwaiba Muhammad Dankabo had sometimes described farming in Nigeria a high-risk venture, noting that insecurity was the cause.

According to her, farmers who once freely cultivated their land are now forced to weigh the possibility of being attacked, kidnapped, or killed while going to farm.

Reacting to the development, the Deputy Vice Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Chief Daniel Okafor described the killings as another painful reminder of the danger confronting farmers across the country.

Okafor said insecurity has remained one of the biggest obstacles to agricultural development for more than a decade as many farmers had reduced cultivation, and abandon farming completely saying there is need for government intervention.

Another farmers' leader from South West, Mr. Segun Dasaolu also expressed concern on continued attacks on farmers saying it would increase hunger in the country.

Dasaolu warned that many farmers are now reluctant to cultivate large portions of land because of fears of violent attacks, saying that this could further worsen food shortages and inflation.

A commentator and social reform advocate Princewill Odidi in a "Honest Bunch"podcast also described the attack as a threat to national development, pointed that  continued violence against farmers would disrupt food supply chains, and increase the cost of food in the country.