Floods have swept through Mokwa in Niger State, and the aftermath is stirring deep concern across Nigeria. With more rains expected in the coming months, farming communities fear the worst: damaged crops, rising food prices, and growing hunger.
Farmers say they’re worried this disaster may not be a one-off. The situation brings back memories of 2024 when floods affected more than 90% of crop farmers and over 75% of livestock farmers. At that time, around 2.5 million people were impacted, and 200,000 were displaced. Entire farmlands — over 16,000 hectares — were submerged across 29 states.
The hardest-hit states included Bauchi, where more than 50,000 hectares were lost; Taraba with over 22,000 hectares; and Jigawa with nearly 10,000 hectares. Farmers reported losses running into billions of naira. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said about 855,000 metric tonnes of food were lost — enough to feed 8.5 million Nigerians for six months. That’s part of why food prices skyrocketed.
Now, with similar signs emerging in 2025, the fear is history may repeat itself.
At a press conference following the Mokwa floods, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, urged everyone — from state governments to local communities — to prepare ahead.
According to the Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), 1,249 communities across 176 local government areas in 33 states — including Niger, Lagos, Taraba, Kebbi, Anambra, and the FCT — are at high risk of flooding. Another 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs face moderate risk.
Prof. Simon Irtwange, who leads the Yam Farmers Association of Nigeria, believes this year’s floods could be worse — especially since farmers are already struggling with insecurity and attacks in food-producing areas.
“We are already battling hunger due to herders and bandits,” he said. “Floods will only make things worse by wiping out farmlands.”
He urged governments to clear blocked water channels and help communities maintain drainage systems. Farmers, he added, must also change harmful farming habits that worsen flooding, such as overpacking the soil and farming on steep land.
Kabir Ibrahim, President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), warned that if large-scale flooding continues, Nigeria’s hopes of achieving food security this year may be dashed.
He said that while the Mokwa floods occurred before the planting season began, erosion has already affected farmlands. “If this scale of flooding continues, farmers’ productivity will drop, and food shortages will grow,” he said.
To manage the impact, Ibrahim recommended educating Nigerians on the dangers of blocking drainage and urging farmers to adopt irrigation and dry-season farming, rather than relying solely on rainfall.
In Abuja, Chief Daniel Okafor, President of the Potato Farmers Association of Nigeria, said farmers in Mokwa and elsewhere are scared for their livelihoods.
“Mokwa is a farming hub,” he said. “Flooding there means no crops, no food, and rising hunger — not just now, but even more by next year.”
He added that poultry and vegetables, in particular, are vulnerable to floods, and many communities farming near rivers may suffer serious losses. “Floods are arriving earlier than usual this year,” he warned. “That’s a bad sign.”
Okafor called on people to stop blocking drainages with waste and urged the government to provide water channels in places that lack them.
