BY MUSA IDRIS UMAR, OCTOBER 16, 2025 | 07:52 PM

Farmers and traders in Borno State are reporting improved food production and market supply this year.

However, challenges like pest attacks and high fertilizer costs continue to threaten their progress.

This comes as the world marks World Food Day 2025, with global organizations calling for stronger action against hunger and malnutrition.

According to the World Food Programme, about 30 million people across Nigeria may face acute food insecurity this year, with the northeast region being the most affected.

In Borno, over a decade of conflict and displacement has disrupted farming, leaving many households dependent on aid.

Despite this, some farmers are gradually rebuilding their livelihoods.

A Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) assessment this year showed that input shortages, pest outbreaks, and erratic rainfall continue to limit productivity in parts of the northeast.

Farmers face significant challenges, including pest infestation, which forced many to replant their crops two or three times.

High fertilizer costs are also a major burden, with a bag costing around N40,000 and farmers needing about 10 bags for their farms.

In an interview with our reporter, Umar Mustapha, a farmer in Tunkushe, Magumeri Local Government Area, said, 'We are safe and farming well. Our only big challenge this year was pest infestation, it affected all our farms, and many of us had to replant two or three times.'

'Fertiler prices remain burden for local farmers like me, a bag costs around N40,000 and more,' he explained.

He appealed to the government to support farmers with insecticides, fertilizer, and more security.

At Maiduguri's Monday Market, trader Ali Yakubu noted that food availability has improved compared to last year.

'Prices have gone down drastically, and food is now more available everywhere,' he said.

He added that most food products in Maiduguri markets now come from local farmers within Borno and neighboring states.

Despite concerns over food insecurity, with the March 2025 Cadre Harmonisé analysis estimating that about five million people across the northeast could face food insecurity without sustained support, improved harvests in many parts of Borno have helped stabilize market prices and ease pressure on families.

As World Food Day highlights the need for food security, farmers in Borno hope that continued support will help them expand production and make hunger a thing of the past.