Why 35m Nigerians face hunger — Expert

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), Dr David Terungwa Michael, has warned that insecurity, inflation, climate shocks and poor government policies are worsening Nigeria’s food crisis, with millions at risk of hunger in the coming months. Michael spoke on Tuesday during an interview on […]

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP), Dr David Terungwa Michael, has warned that insecurity, inflation, climate shocks and poor government policies are worsening Nigeria’s food crisis, with millions at risk of hunger in the coming months.
Michael spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Trust TV’s Business Daily programme while reacting to a United Nations projection that about 35 million Nigerians could face acute hunger between June and August 2026.
He said the country’s agricultural sector was already under pressure, noting that recent GDP figures reflected the difficult reality facing farmers and food production nationwide.
“Production actually reduced and so it tells why we have that very, very marginal increase,” he said.
He added that Nigeria was importing more food than it exported, despite its vast arable land.
“We are rather importing food than exporting, as the case may be,” he added.
Michael said the annual lean season, which falls between planting and harvest periods, had become more severe because many farmers could no longer access their farms due to insecurity.
“This time, it’s more acute, it’s more worrisome because of several factors,” he noted.
According to him, insecurity, climate change, post-harvest losses, inflation, unemployment and rising energy costs were worsening food shortages across the country.
“The insecurity and conflict in the country have chased a lot of farmers from their farmlands,” he explained.
He also criticised the federal government’s food import policy, saying it weakened local farmers and discouraged production.
Michael cited the example of a maize farmer in Bauchi State who kept three bags of maize as capital for the new farming season but suffered losses after grain prices crashed following food imports.
“In 2024, a bag of maize was going for N100,000. Now with the import, the price dropped to N20,000,” he said.
He added that many farmers eventually abandoned farming because they could no longer afford fertiliser and other farm inputs.
“So like him and many other farmers were not able to produce. So you have that shortage,” he added.
Michael warned that widespread hunger could worsen insecurity and social tension across the country.
“If you have 35 million hungry and angry Nigerians, that is more than 10 per cent of our population. That is huge,” he noted.
He called on governments at all levels to focus more on supporting smallholder farmers, whom he described as the backbone of food production in Nigeria.
“Smallholder farmers actually feed the nation,” he said.
Michael faulted the implementation of some agricultural interventions, saying many farmers failed to receive support at the right time.
According to him, some tractors imported by the federal government were still parked months after they were unveiled.

“A few days ago, I passed by and I still saw those tractors there after it was inaugurated,” he said.

He said governments should prioritise support for irrigation, farm inputs and storage facilities rather than direct food subsidies.

“There is a way you can support farmers. There is a way you can subsidise the inputs,” he explained.