{"id":319,"date":"2026-07-03T13:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=319"},"modified":"2026-07-03T13:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:35:07","slug":"agriculture-nigerias-fading-landmine-by-isabella-odumenyah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=319","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Agriculture, Nigeria\u2019s Fading Goldmine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Isabella Odumenyah <\/strong>
Agriculture has long been the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, providing food and employment for citizens. Before the discovery of crude oil in large quantities on January 15, 1956, agriculture was incontestably the main source of Nigeria economy and livelihood of its millions citizens. Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and the rearing of farm animals for food, income, raw materials and other human needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the future of this sector is increasingly threatened by the combination of insecurity, climate change, poor facilities, inadequate government support and a declining interest among young people. Across many farming communities, especially in the northern and central Nigeria, insecurity has forced many farmers to abandon their farmland and stop farming activities. Frequent attacks by bandits, kidnappers and violent group have created fear among rural residents, leading to reduced agricultural production and high or rising food prices nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arguably, agriculture remains critical to Nigeria’s economy growth and food security. However, unless the challenges facing the sector is addressed, the future of agriculture may remain uncertain, putting livelihood of million of Nigerians at stake. Agriculture is part of Nigeria’s history from our fore father’s to us. It is a sector that has always been there since the beginning, rooted in us. During the colonial period, the British encouraged the production of cash crop for exports, different regions became known for specific agricultural products. The Northern region was famous for groundnut and cotton, the Western region for cocoa, and the Eastern fegion for palm oil and palm kernels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: Fiber Optic Installation Begins At DELSU Site 2 As Students Seek Improved Service<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The famous groundnut pyramids in Kano and cocoa house in Ibadan symbolised the strength of the agricultural sector. Regrettably, this critical sector faces numerous challenges, including insecurity, climate change, poor infrastructure, bush burning, deforestation, unregulated urbanisation, high transportation cost, felling of trees, inadequate funding and limited access to modern farming technologies. These challenges have reduced production and increased food prices in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent happening on Sunday, June 7, 2026 when no fewer than 50 elderly people from Magamin Diddi village in Magamin faru ward of Madarun Local Government Area of Zamfara State has been kidnapped while on a reconciliation and self-initiating peace mission to allow the community access to their farm land and begin farming activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Chairman, the bandict had recently blocked all roads leading to the community market and stopping their food chain and primary standard of living. The Zamfara State Government maintains a strict policy against negotiation with bandits and has denied any involvement in the reconciliation mission with the Hausa clan. The Bandit kingpin, identified simply as Jammo, had claimed he was tired of banditry and wanted peace. However, upon the delegation\u2019s arrival, he betrayed their trust and took them hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: DELSU: Group Holds Mental Health Awareness Conference, Advocates Better Help-Seeking Behaviour<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bugging question is, what guarantees or protects the other farms in the country? For now, it is Zamfara State; tomorrow, it could be Delta, Lagos, Enugu or Kebbi. The growing numbers of this banditory activities is alarming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these difficulties, agriculture continues to offer great potential for Economic growth, job creation and food security. With proper investment, modern technology, improved security and greater youth participation, Nigeria can revive its agricultural sector and restore is position as a leading agricultural nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author, Isabella Odumenyah, is a 100 level student of Mass Communication at Delta State University, Abraka. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Isabella Odumenyah Agriculture has long been the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, providing food and employment for citizens. Before the discovery of crude oil in large quantities on January 15, 1956, agriculture was incontestably the main source of Nigeria economy and livelihood of its millions citizens. Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and the rearing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":24,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[66,67,30],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viewspoint","tag-agriculture","tag-economy","tag-insecurity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}