For the umpteenth time, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) has warned that the incessant invasion of farmlands by herdsmen with their animals portend danger to the nation’s food security.
President of NANTS, Mr. Ken Ukaoha, gave this warning recently in Abuja at the harvest and post-harvest training of 300 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are beneficiaries of NANTS-ECOWAS social safety net project, called on the government and security agencies, to as a matter of urgency, bring this ugly phenomenon to a halt.
Ukaoha lamented the havoc wrecked by herdsmen who invaded the IDPs maize farms with their animals, leaving the farmers at a great loss.
According to him,” There have been challenges of herdsmen invading the farms including the project demo plots where maize farms were destroyed.
“This is a total loss to these farmers who have toiled day and night to make life comfortable for themselves.
“Therefore, we plead with the government to take adequate action to stop this menace which is a threat to the nation’s quest for food security as the lives of farmers are endangered in their farms.”
Commenting on the post-harvest training organised for IDPs who have taken farming as source of living in Pegi, Kuje Area Council of Abuja, Ukaoha expressed joy on the bumper harvest the IDPs recorded in their farms.
He said: “It is on record that this project has successfully improved the livelihoods of the IDPs, empowered them with the capacity to create jobs, improved food/nutrition security, reduced their dependence on handouts from government and other philanthropic organisations.
“It has also increased their food production and income generation, improved collaboration and co-existence with their host communities and to some extent, brought beneficiaries closer to the gradual exit from IDP status.”
He assured IDP farmers that they would be linked to off-takers who would buy off their produce, adding that they would be trained to build on existing local strategies on how to preserve and store food items during the rainy and planting season.
In his remarks, Mr. Carles Puigmarti Borrell, Coordinator General, Spanish Cooperation in charge of ECOWAS, pledged that the Agency would expand the programme through the provision of funding support to enable more IDPs in Nigeria to benefit from the gesture.
Borrell therefore urged IDPs to embrace best agronomic practices to enhance productivity and increase their incomes.
Some of the IDPs interviewed by Daily Independent expressed appreciation to NANTS for creating a new lease of life for them through the provision of farm inputs, training and financial support.
