The Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has announced plans for the state to return to full farming activities in 2025, despite the prevailing insecurity in the region.
This decision was reached after a productive meeting on strategies to enhance agricultural productivity and address food insecurity with Vice President Kashim Shettima.
In his address to State House Correspondents, Alia stated that the state, traditionally known as Nigeria’s “food basket” but currently threatened by insecurity, would reclaim its title while scaling up production during the 2025 farming season.
He said, “This year, we’re returning to the farms 100 per cent. Benue does not need to discuss food insecurity; instead, we should support the President in aiding other states facing these challenges.
“Just a few weeks ago, we launched our support for all our security apparatus.
“Insecurity never goes away entirely, but we are seeing fewer large-scale disturbances. Our folks back home are alert and ready to support our primary security personnel.
“Many people went back to their farms, and we have experienced a lot of harvests. We plan to do even better this season.”
He highlighted that promises made during the campaign to provide tractors and essential farm inputs, as outlined by Vice President Shettima, have been fulfilled.
The governor on Wednesday also revealed that the state government has allocated 100 Toyota trucks to local security agencies as part of a broader initiative to strengthen security infrastructure.
The National President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, also emphasised the urgent need to address recurring insecurity in the agriculture sector to achieve food sufficiency and affordability.
Osifo specifically mentioned Zaki Biam in Benue State as an area severely affected by insecurity, despite its prominence in yam production and other staple foods.
He said, “Today, some farmers couldn’t go to their farms. If you go to Benue, Zaki Biam, a lot of those places where they produce yam and other staple foods, they can’t access their farms today because of insecurity.
“So part of the advocacy that we have also mounted is for the government to do everything possible to restore security to those areas where you have massive farms so that when farmers return, they should be supported both in terms of soft loans and fertilisers.
“When they produce this food, it will inevitably reduce the cost of food because we know that food inflation is the highest inflation today.”