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Flooding: How Nigerians Can Prepare for the Forthcoming Food Scarcity

Emmanuel Nnaemeka
  Since October, several states in Nigeria have witnessed unprecedented levels of flooding that have ravaged communities, killing hundreds of residents and destroying properties and farmlands. According to news reports, over 600 people have died from the flood, and several thousands of farmlands and livestock have been obliterated.
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Also, official reports disclosed that over 1.4 million people had been displaced. And this bad news is this: The federal government and Nigerian Meteorological Agency have warned that more flooding should be expected. The worst-hit states include Adamawa, Anambra, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Delta, Benue, Nasarawa, etc.  Sadly, flooding in Nigeria has remained an avoidable disaster that has overwhelming consequences on the economy. Experts have warned that Nigeria will face severe food scarcity because of the flooding. In this article, I discuss four ways Nigeria can prepare for the forthcoming food scarcity. Studies have stated whether information needs to be collected and disseminated regularly.
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By instituting early warning signs, smallholder and large holder farmers are kept abreast of forthcoming flooding disasters, enabling them to relocate livestock and from produce to safer places. The government should build or revamp existing farm settlements and estates beyond disaster’s reach. In today’s Nigeria, there are a lot of farm settlements in disaster-proof areas that are lying in waste. For example, the Igbariam Farm Settlement in Anambra is very underutilized despite its safe location. This is the case with several settlements across the country. Therefore, the government must make agriculture attractive by revamping and equipping farm settlements and estates with modern devices and other technological innovations that can be used to regulate and monitor the climate and warn of disasters. Finally, farming estates should have all basic amenities (including the internet to dissuade rural-to-urban migration). Governments at the local level should promote “Operations Feed Yourself” by helping households to access information and inputs that will enable them to produce food around their houses to feed their families.
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Therefore, citizens are encouraged to use any available space at home for gardening. This period is a time for transnational cooperation between the Nigerian government and other donor agencies. However, donor agencies like Save the Children have responded in many ways to improve the living standards and well-being of vulnerable Nigerians, especially those affected by natural disasters and conflicts.  Save the Children, and several other humanitarian response foundations are programming around shock-responsive social protection and child poverty. This includes providing food vouchers and cash transfers to singled-out families and supporting them to build back better and settle. Featured Image Source: Daily Post Nigeria
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