Север Нигерии требует инвестиций в безопасность и инфраструктуру для обеспечения продовольственной безопасности страны

National Issues The North, Food Security, and the True Cost of Reform -By Mohammad Shettima Hayerma History will judge every administration not only by the reforms it introduced, but by the lives those reforms ultimately improved. The North does not ask for special treatment. It asks for policies that recognize its indispensable contribution to feeding the nation, and that give farmers the security, infrastructure, financing, and stability they need to fulfil that responsibility. When Northern agriculture succeeds, Nigeria succeeds. When its farmers are protected, the country’s food security grows stronger. That is the true measure of meaningful and enduring reform. Northern Nigeria is more than a geographical region. It is the agricultural backbone of the country. Across the fertile plains of Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger, Gombe, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, and Borno, millions of hardworking men and women cultivate the crops that feed the nation. Rice, maize, millet, sorghum, wheat, beans, onions, tomatoes, sesame, groundnuts, livestock, and countless other agricultural products that sustain homes, industries, and markets across the federation originate largely from the North. When agriculture prospers there, Nigeria is more food secure, inflation is more manageable, rural incomes improve, and growth becomes more inclusive. When it struggles, the effects are felt in every household, regardless of region. The economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration marked one of the most significant policy shifts in Nigeria’s recent history. The removal of the petrol subsidy, the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, tighter monetary policy, and measures intended to boost food supply were designed to address long standing structural weaknesses in the economy, reducing fiscal pressure, improving market efficiency, encouraging investment, and placing Nigeria on a more sustainable path. Many economists had advocated similar reforms for years, arguing that postponing difficult decisions would only deepen the country’s economic challenges. Yet good intentions alone do not determine successful public policy. The true test of reform lies in how its costs and benefits are distributed across society. A policy may be economically necessary and still impose severe hardship if those who bear its greatest burden are not adequately supported through the transition. In my view, this has been one of the defining challenges of Nigeria’s recent reforms, particularly for the agricultural communities of the North. Modern farming depends heavily on affordable energy. Tractors prepare farmland. Irrigation pumps sustain crops through dry periods. Harvesters gather produce. Milling machines process grain. Trucks carry food from farms to markets hundreds of kilometres away. Every one of these activities relies on fuel. Following the removal of the petrol subsidy, the cost of nearly every stage of agricultural production rose substantially. Farmers had to spend far more on land preparation, irrigation, harvesting, processing, transport, and storage. For many commercial operations, profit margins narrowed considerably, and for countless smallholders, expansion plans were abandoned and cultivated land reduced simply because production had become too expensive. The naira’s depreciation following the foreign exchange reforms added further pressure. Fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, improved seeds, irrigation equipment, machinery, spare parts, and packaging materials all became significantly costlier, given Nigeria’s dependence on imported inputs and components. Farmers entered planting seasons already facing costs far above previous years, and many responded by applying less fertilizer, scaling back mechanization, postponing equipment purchases, or simply producing less. These decisions may ease costs in the short term, but they risk lower yields and weaker productivity over time. Access to finance compounded the problem. Higher interest rates made borrowing more expensive precisely when farmers needed more capital to sustain existing output. Agriculture is inherently exposed to uncertainty from weather, pests, disease, and volatile prices, and raising the cost of credit in such a period inevitably discouraged investment and slowed expansion across much of the sector. It would be incomplete, and unfair, to attribute every challenge facing Northern agriculture solely to recent economic reforms. The region has grappled with serious structural problems for years. Insecurity remains one of the greatest obstacles to its development. Banditry, kidnapping, farmer herder conflict, cattle rustling, and violent attacks have forced many communities to abandon productive land or limit what they plant. Families that should be investing in seeds and machinery instead invest in their own safety, and investors hesitate to commit capital where security cannot be guaranteed. No agricultural economy can reach its potential while farmers fear for their lives. Poverty presents another fundamental challenge. Northern Nigeria continues to record some of the country’s highest poverty rates. For millions of households, farming is not simply a business but a means of survival, and limited access to education, healthcare, technology, and financial services traps many rural communities in cycles of low income and constrained opportunity. When reforms raise production costs without sufficient transitional support, it is those with the fewest resources who struggle most to adapt. Unemployment, especially among young people, deepens these difficulties further. Agriculture has historically been one of the North’s largest employers, yet rising costs, insecurity, weak infrastructure, and limited investment have reduced the sector’s capacity to sustain jobs. A region with one of the youngest populations in Africa cannot afford an agricultural sector unable to absorb its growing workforce. Productive employment remains one of the strongest safeguards against poverty, instability, and unrest. Climate change has intensified these pressures still further. Flooding, prolonged dry spells, desertification, and increasingly erratic rainfall continue to reduce yields and raise production risk. These challenges demand real investment in irrigation, climate resilient farming methods, improved seed varieties, and water management infrastructure. Without that investment, productivity will remain vulnerable regardless of broader economic policy. Northern agriculture, then, is shaped by multiple interconnected challenges rather than any single policy decision. Even so, the recent economic reforms intensified financial pressure on farmers already contending with insecurity, climate shocks, weak infrastructure, poverty, and limited access to affordable finance. This combination has made the present one of the most difficult operating environments many producers have faced in recent memory. As Chief Executive Officer of Hayerma Farms, I have seen these consequences firsthand, not as abstractions but as operational realities. Soaring fuel prices, currency depreciation, rising input and machinery costs, and widespread market uncertainty severely disrupted our operations and investment plans. By my own assessment, Hayerma Farms lost investments valued at nearly one million US dollars during this period. Like many commercial agricultural businesses, we were compelled to reassess our expansion plans and adapt continuously to an increasingly expensive business environment. This reflects my own experience, but I know many farmers across the North who describe facing similar pressures. Constructive criticism should never be mistaken for opposition to reform. Nigeria needs courageous leadership capable of confronting long standing structural weaknesses. But successful reform requires more than fiscal adjustment and macroeconomic stability. It requires protecting the productive sectors that feed the nation, create employment, and drive inclusive growth. If agriculture is truly regarded as the foundation of Nigeria’s diversification strategy, farmers deserve policies that reflect that priority. Rural security must be strengthened. Agricultural credit should be made more affordable and accessible. Irrigation systems must be expanded, and rural roads significantly improved. Extension services should reach more farmers with modern techniques and technology. Storage and processing infrastructure should be developed to cut post harvest losses. And trade and import policy should stay predictable enough to encourage long term investment while balancing the interests of consumers and domestic producers alike. The future of Nigeria’s food security depends heavily on the future of Northern agriculture. A nation cannot sustainably lower food prices by weakening those who produce its food. Lasting food security is built by empowering farmers, encouraging investment, improving productivity, and creating an environment where agriculture is both profitable and secure. History will judge every administration not only by the reforms it introduced, but by the lives those reforms ultimately improved. The North does not ask for special treatment. It asks for policies that recognize its indispensable contribution to feeding the nation, and that give farmers the security, infrastructure, financing, and stability they need to fulfil that responsibility. When Northern agriculture succeeds, Nigeria succeeds. When its farmers are protected, the country’s food security grows stronger. That is the true measure of meaningful and enduring reform.