ANOTHER authoritative report has confirmed what Nigerians have known for years but what successive governments have stubbornly refused to confront: open grazing has become one of the country’s gravest security and economic disasters.
The new report, “Insecurity, Livelihoods and Welfare in Northern Nigeria”, concludes that herders’ violence against farmers, banditry and insurgency are driving millions deeper into poverty and undermining the country’s food security.
This should alarm every policymaker. Northern Nigeria is the country’s food basket. When farmers abandon their lands because of violence, every Nigerian pays the price through soaring food inflation, shrinking agricultural production and worsening hunger.
The report, jointly produced by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network of the Institute of Development Studies, United Kingdom; the Development Research and Projects Centre; and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-supported Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria project, leaves little room for doubt.
CPAN Deputy Director, Vidya Diwakar, said the study relied on the Nigeria Living Standards Survey 2022/23, the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2024, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data covering 2010 to 2025, and extensive fieldwork to examine how insecurity has devastated household welfare.
