How escalating insurgency evokes fear of possible food insecurity

In Nigeria, most of its population resides in the rural areas, and With the unending attacks of the Boko Haram, its affiliates and bandits, especially in rural farming communities, food insecurity beckons in Nigeria.

The escalating situation gives grave concerns considering that agriculture is the mainstay of the rural population, where warring communities or parties often, resort to manipulation over access to food and livestock.

As the new farming season draws nearer, many farmers, from northeast to northwest and northcentral, are scaling down operations, with some opting for subsistence farming rather than commercial production following the escalation of insecurity.

Baba Basir, a bean farmer, said that insecurity is a major concern, noting that farmers are increasingly reluctant to cultivate distant farmlands due to risks of being killed or kidnapped on the farmlands.

According to him, the security situation in the North-East, especially Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, is entering a very disturbing and devastating phase, raising fears that the progress made by the federal government over the years may be gradually sliding away.

“The recent killing of senior officers and mass abductions have kept disturbing us (farmers) because it is a sign that things are getting worse. Last year, we were able to cultivate with the support of the Borno State government, which provided armed security to safeguard us.

“I think, as the rainy season is approaching, we are praying that things get better, but for now, we are watching. The security situation is worrisome and scary,” he said.

He also called for improved security measures, including strengthening forest guards to protect farmlands and rural communities.

Bitrus Chibok, a farmer from Chibok, lamented that insecurity is a major concern, noting that farmers are increasingly reluctant to cultivate distant farmlands due to safety risks, including persistent Boko Haram attacks in Chibok and Askira/Uba villages.

He also called for improved security measures, including strengthening local vigilantes and hunters to protect farmlands in Chibok and adjoining communities.

“Many of the villages in Chibok and Askira-Uba have been deserted due to persistent attacks. There is an urgent need for the federal government to protect us.

He warned that if these challenges persist, Nigeria may face a significant decline in food production in the coming months, potentially leading to higher food prices, increased hunger and food insecurity.

However, the terrorist attacks by armed groups continued to intensify across several northern states. In late January 2026, more than 160 worshippers were abducted, and on February 3, 2026, an armed group attacked two villages in Kwara State, killing over 160 people and abducting dozens.

Between March 3 and 5, 2026, the Islamic State West Africa Province militants attacked the town of Ngoshe, northeastern Borno State, reportedly abducting more than 416 civilians, including women and children, and killing many others. Consequently, the killing of military field commanders and dozens of foot soldiers by Boko Haram might have grave implications for civilian safety and security.

In the last two months, ISWAP and its JAS terrorists have carried out 20 attacks, including on military formations and communities, which have displaced thousands of people from their homes in Borno and Adamawa states.

The International medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has raised an alarm that more than 5,000 people, who fled their homes, are now living in precarious conditions in Pulka, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.

According to MSF, it has launched an emergency response in Gwoza Local Government Area (LGA), Borno State, northeast Nigeria, following a new wave of displacement triggered by armed violence.
“More than 5,000 people have fled their homes and are now living in extreme conditions in Pulka, approximately 15 kilometres away within Gwoza LGA.

“Many of those displaced—including women, children and older people—arrived with little to no belongings. With no adequate shelter available, families are sleeping in open spaces and along the streets”.

Charles Pen, a security analyst, warned that there is a direct relationship between physical security and food security; food security is a function of physical security. If people are not secure in their environment and work, there will be no food security.

“The armed groups that perpetrate the attacks are killing the morale of these farming communities. You are sending them into displacement and disrupting the market. We are not magicians. We can’t do magic”.

He noted that the farming community in northeast Nigeria was sacked, and that emerging security threats pose risks to farmers’ confidence ahead of the rainy season.

“So, the result of all these is that there will be food insecurity. Nigeria doesn’t produce what it consumes. We buy most of these things from outside. So, if the little that we can use in sustaining ourselves is not there, because the communities are sacked, because people are being killed, because the market is disrupted, because our government failed to protect the farmers, then what becomes our faith?
Charles urged the military to step up their game and adopt new hardware to gather intelligence for analysis and operations.

“My candid opinion is the government must do more in securing farming communities. They must do more to secure local government areas. They must do more to ensure that markets are not disrupted.

They must ensure that the people who are farming are not killed or kidnapped. This thing is not imaginary. It’s doable,” he said.

“It is all about the government stepping up its intelligence, you know, and manning our borders as it should be, use technology in securing our forests, securing our borders and making local government areas and farming communities inhabitable for people, if not, with the way insecurity is going in Nigeria, a time is coming when every local government will be manned by one sect or the other,” he advised.

Abubakar Mohammed Kareto, a public affairs analyst, said that before the recent wave of Boko Haram and ISWAP campaigns in the northeast, farming activities had been greatly affected by the crisis that had existed for nearly three decades in the region, with Borno State becoming the epicentre.

According to him, the recent surge in organised attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP on military formations, leading to the tragic killing of high-ranking officers and soldiers, has further deepened and widened the existing crisis of food security in the North East and Borno State, to be precise.

“One can safely say that this carnage has completely dismantled the region’s fragile food production ecosystem, pushing a region in the past known as the agricultural heartbeat for several staple crops in Nigeria to a region of hunger and malnutrition.

“It is obvious; if insurgents can easily overrun an army formation, well-equipped with weaponry, then poor farmers are definitely helpless. Sadly, these recent attacks will cause food prices to skyrocket and create shortages, leading to increased hunger and famine”.

People’s return to ancestral homes can be a mirage without adequate security, and an agriculture-based society like North East Nigeria cannot survive without access to farmlands.

He urged the military CJTF to shift from reactive operations to dominating, proactive and well-coordinated security in rural agricultural communities that were relocated from the IDPs.

“There has always been a nexus between national security and food security; you cannot have one without the other,” he warned.