By John Meze
Farmers across the nation, have raised the alarm that earlier cessation of rains, in some parts of the country and flooding in some other parts may lead to scarcity of foods for the best part of the this year 2020 and better part of 2021.
According to some of the farmers in the South West and South East of the country, which at the commencement of the farming season experienced rains before a four months draught, spanning the covid-19 period, the sudden draught has led to scourging of crops as well as the baking of the soil. They said that famine stares the nation in the face in months to come.
Though in the South East and some parts of the South West, which later experienced flooding when the rains returned in September, it was learnt that crops such as maize, cassava, yam, fluted pumpkin leaves and other vegetable have been destroyed.
They added that this may, by extension, affect food and seeds availability, while positing that the next farming season, given this development would, more or less, render useless current humongous amounts being invested by the federal government, individuals, states as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Stressing further, that failed rains in these areas coupled with the activities of insurgents, bandits as well as kidnappers across the country may spell hunger later in the year and a better part of next year 2021, the farmers informed that there is little the government can do to save the situation except the importation of foods.
Meanwhile, surviving crops which the Fedreal Govenment had invested billions of Naira into have been washed away by the rains leading to floods across farm lands in the nation.
Those, who, accepted the argument of freaky weather or change in climate due to the depletion of the ozone layer, still expressed the view that there should have been intermittent rain falls as has been the case for some years before now. They, however, expressed the hope that the rains would come, though in trickles, and that it would be of little or no use.
The farmers interviewed faulted the meteorologists whose weather predictions had largely failed.
An Ogun-based farmer, Mr. Babatunde Ashiru, claimed that he had leased about two acres of land from the Obasanjo Farm Phase Two in Ogun State for corns, cassava, vegetables including fluted pumpkin cultivation, informed that he was barely able to harvest some vegetables early in July when the weather changed.
He lamented over the huge loss sustained to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Ashiru disclosed that he invested his entire savings in agriculture when the government came up with the virus lockdown across the country. He said he would have difficulty feeding his family.
The federal government had in August 2020, promised to make available to farmers facilities in the form of loans and grants up to the tune of N500 billion in order to encourage farmers as well as a way of providing job opportunities for the teeming unemployed.