The Food and Agriculture Organization has revealed that the recent floods, which submerged vast areas of Nigeria, have destroyed crops that could have fed 8.5 million people for six months.
The devastating floods occurred just as the harvest season began, exacerbating the nation’s food crisis and deepening widespread hunger.
According to The PUNCH, FAO underscored the difficulty in providing a precise assessment of the flood’s damage due to the sheer scale of the disaster. “Quantifying the exact loss has not yet been possible due to the gravity of the disaster,” the report stated.
However, based on estimates, around 856,000 tons of crops were lost, which would have been harvested from about 570,000 hectares of flooded land.
“The heavy rains are worsening an already deteriorating food security situation,” FAO emphasized. The floods, stretching from Guinea to the Central African Republic, have compounded the hunger crisis in a region where 55 million people were already facing food shortages due to insecurity and extreme weather conditions.
In Nigeria, food prices are rising at an alarming rate of 37.5% annually, while nearly half of the country’s 200 million people live in extreme poverty.
FAO also noted that the floods have not only destroyed crops but have also breached enclosures in markets, allowing livestock to escape and damaging storage facilities that held fodder and agricultural machinery.
Farmers had expected a bumper harvest this year, particularly in the cultivation of crops like groundnuts, vegetables, and rice. Unfortunately, heavy rains have dashed those hopes, particularly in northern states such as Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, and Kebbi, which are among the worst affected by the flooding.
In Jigawa State, over 2,744 hectares of farmland were washed away across 12 local government areas (LGAs), resulting in the loss of more than N1 billion worth of crops. Dr. Haruna Mairiga, Secretary of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed, “From August 1 to 13, 2024, we witnessed intermittent downpours that led to several cases of flooding, 21 deaths, and the destruction of farmlands and homes.”
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency had earlier predicted severe flooding in its 2024 outlook, identifying 31 states and 148 LGAs as high flood-risk areas.
As Nigeria grapples with the aftermath, it faces the challenge of addressing both the immediate disaster relief efforts and the long-term threat to its food security.
