As Nigeria marks 65 years of independence, the nation continues to grapple with the painful reality of food insecurity and affordability. In this report, FRANCISCA ADIDI examines how insecurity, climate change, economic instability and weak policy implementation have combined to push millions into hunger, forcing many citizens to adopt desperate measures such as sack and tyre farming just to survive
While Nigeria has recorded notable developmental strides in some sectors, the nation’s 65 years of independence are still overshadowed by challenges of food insecurity and affordability.
Statistics from various sources continue to place Nigeria among countries struggling to stabilise their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ensure food security. Experts say food shortages persist largely due to insecurity, climate change, economic instability and poor policy implementation. These factors have combined to fuel high food inflation, weaken consumer purchasing power and force a large portion of the population to spend an unsustainable percentage of their income on food, thus creating a crisis of hunger that has endured for years.
A startling reality, alarming statistics
According to a recent study by the World Food Programme (WFP), 30.6 million Nigerians are facing acute food insecurity. Nationwide, 37 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, while 2.3 million people remain displaced by violence and insecurity in the North-East.
“Conflict and insecurity, rising inflation and the impact of the climate crisis continue to drive hunger in Nigeria—with 30.6 million people facing acute hunger. Conflict in the North-East has displaced 2.3 million people and left nearly 5 million facing acute food insecurity and limited access to assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Three million of them are in Borno State, the epicentre of insurgency,” the report said.
The WFP also noted that Nigeria suffers periodic droughts and floods, both of which negatively impact agricultural output. Insurgent activities have further worsened the fragile resource environment, deepened insecurity, slowed development and heightened food and nutrition challenges, particularly for vulnerable women and children.
For many Nigerians, survival now means going without meals. Civil servants welcomed the new ₦70,000 minimum wage as relief. But it remains inadequate against soaring food prices.
Globally, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says 828 million people (10 percent of the world’s population), go to bed hungry each night. Of these, 46 million joined the ranks of the hungry in the past year alone. According to the FAO, “Of those affected by hunger, two-thirds are women and 80 percent live in areas prone to climate change.”
As hardship deepens, Nigerians are adopting new survival strategies. A growing trend is sack or tyre farming, with vegetables and yams planted in backyards, verandas and even flowerpots. Women collect refuse-dump soil for manure, selling it to urban farmers. What was once considered waste has now become a vital means of feeding families in towns where land is scarce.
One resident explained how a security guard fetched sand from a refuse dump for her sack farm, only to find that supplies had run out due to high demand. Another neighbour directed her to a bigger dump site where women and boys sort soil and sell it to urban farmers. Witnessing their resilience and innovation was both moving and a stark reminder of the struggle ordinary Nigerians face to feed themselves.
At 65 years of independence, agriculture remains Nigeria’s mainstay. Yet millions still depend on sack farming and refuse-dump soil because insecurity, poor policies and weak infrastructure continue to hold the sector back.
Main causes of Nigerian food shortages
Experts have identified conflict, climate change, inflation and rising food prices as the key drivers of shortages. In the North-East states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY), persistent insurgency has displaced farmers. Banditry and kidnapping in Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue, Niger and Plateau states have further disrupted farming.
One farmer who requested anonymity said: “I no longer farm the distant farmland because of terrorists who always invade the farms. We only farm at the backyard to feed the family. I pray that Nigeria will be saved again to enable us to go back to farming in large quantities.”
Another resident recounted how sack farming forced her to rely on refuse-dump sand. “Mummy, the sand is finished because people rushed to fetch it to plant their crops,” Williams, a guard, told her. Later, she discovered women and young boys making a living by sorting and selling soil from dumpsites. For many, this has become a lifeline.
Nigeria is still battling an agricultural crisis driven by escalating insecurity, severe climate change impacts, high input costs and policy failures. Instead of embracing modern farming technology, most Nigerians are compelled to return to makeshift methods like sack farming.
Challenges to food affordability
Conflict and insecurity remain the greatest threats to food access. Farmers are attacked, threatened, or killed on their farmlands, especially in Plateau State, forcing many to abandon large-scale farming. Climate change also plays a major role, with droughts and floods worsening productivity.
Government economic policies have further complicated the problem. Removal of fuel and forex subsidies has sharply increased costs of fertiliser, feed and transportation, leaving farmers struggling to sustain production. As a result, Nigeria continues to depend heavily on food imports, creating unhealthy competition for local producers.
Decades of underinvestment in agriculture compared to the oil industry, as well as poor policy implementation, have worsened the problem. While proposals are often made, they rarely translate into concrete results.
Today, workers spend most of their salaries on food. Families face acute insecurity, destroyed farmlands and worsening hunger. For millions, food insecurity is no longer an abstract challenge but a lived reality.
Way forward
Although President Tinubu’s administration has succeeded in driving down food prices somewhat, many Nigerians still cannot afford them due to limited resources. Citizens are calling for another increase in the minimum wage to cushion the rising cost of living.
Experts recommend that farmers be provided with affordable or subsidised fertiliser to boost yields. Above all, security must be prioritised so that farmers can return to their lands without fear. Palliatives can help in the short term, but only sustained investment in agriculture, effective policies and modern technology will truly transform Nigeria’s food sector.
At 65 years of independence, the path forward lies not in sack farming as a coping mechanism, but in creating an environment where every Nigerian can farm productively, buy food affordably and live without the daily fear of hunger.