Boko Haram: 400,000 farmers return to farm in Borno – AFAN

About 400,000 farmers in Borno State have returned to farm this year following the gradual return of peace due to the gallantry effort of the military in fighting the Boko Haram terrorists in the state, an official has said.
Malam Salihu Sani, the Secretary of state chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.
Sani explained that the farmers were mainly from eight out of the nine Local Government Areas in the Southern Senatorial District of the state.
He named the LGAs as Shani, Kwaya-Kusar, Biu, Hawul, Askira-Uba, Damboa, Chibok and Bayo.
Sani added, however, that farmers from Gwoza, the ninth LGA, did not participate much in farming activities due to an ongoing military operation aimed at uprooting Boko Haram terrorists in the area.
He said: “Farming is almost made impossible because most of our small-scale farmers, especially from Northern Borno, have fled and are currently taking refuge as IDPs here in the state capital, while many of them were killed by Boko Haram insurgents.
“But even at that, our farmers in Southern Borno continue to take the bull by the horn to cultivate their crops, especially in areas that had recorded relative peace.
“Farmers in Hawul, Shani, Kwaya Kusar had produced good quantity of wheat, groundnut, soya beans, cotton, millet, potato, rice and maize, while Domboa farmers produced guinea corn and bambara nut this year.
“We are very optimistic.
“Now that almost all the local government areas are liberated, our farmers will soon go back to their ancestral home and continue farming.
“The Borno state government is doing a lot to kick start and revolutionise the activities of farming in preparation for the post-insurgency, but farmers’ greatest challenge is access to loans.
“The state government must assist our farmers in tapping from relevant agricultural programmes and schemes to resuscitate the lost glory of the state’s farming activity.”
NAN.