Gombe farmers decry 2022 flooding, seek government support,

“We really need support because most of the rice farmers affected by last year’s flood could not return to their farms.”

News Agency of Nigeria • June 14, 2023

FLOODED FARM [ Photo Credit : Premium Times]

Farmers in Gombe, whose farmlands were washed away by floods last year, say they are still struggling to recover, asking the government to come to their aid.

The farmers who narrated their ordeals in separate interviews on Wednesday appealed for the government’s assistance in cultivating their farmlands this season.

They claimed that the farmers cultivated this season did so with bank facilities.

A rice farmer from Yamaltu-Deba LGA, Musa Garba, said the flood swept over 70 per cent of his three hectares of rice farmland. He said because there was no support, he had to take a loan to enable him to cultivate a hectare this year.

“We really need support because most of the rice farmers affected by last year’s flood could not return to their farms, and this will negatively affect food security in the state,” he said.

For Abubakar Ibrahim, from the Panguru community in Billiri LGA, who cultivated over four hectares of soya beans last year but harvested less than two bags of the produce, there was no interest in returning to the farm this year.

Mr Ibrahim said that with support from the government and other stakeholders, it would be easier for many of them to return to their farms, stating, “I am yet to recover from the impact of last year’s flood because the loan I took to cultivate had not been repaid, so I can’t take another to farm this year.”

Adamu Bajoga from Funakaye LGA said farmers in his community, affected by the flood last year, were afraid to return to their farms.

Ibrahim Abubakar, the head of extension officers in the Maize Association of Nigeria Special Project’s state chapter, said the flooding’s impact could not be quantified.

Mr Abubakar said that if the government did not support the victims, it would be difficult for many of them to recover from the loss.

“I know nearly 30 farmers affected by flood last year that are not returning to their farms for the lack of funds. They really need help from the federal and state governments so that we don’t have a food crisis on our hands,” he said.

(NAN)

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