The Nigerian Army has announced the deployment of troops across several states in the Northern part of the country to protect farmers and ensure a successful planting season.
This measure, the Army said is aimed particularly at the North West and North Central regions of Nigeria.
According to a statement by Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations on Monday, August 19, 2024, the deployment has facilitated farmers’ access to their fields, paving the way for a productive planting season and an anticipated bumper harvest.
This initiative by the Army comes as Nigeria grapples with worsening food shortages, contributing to a sharp rise in food inflation, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported to be over 40 percent.
Nigeria’s overall inflation rate hit a new peak, reaching 34.19 percent in June 2024, before slightly easing to 33.40 percent in July, according to NBS data from the Consumer Price Index.
The bureau highlighted that food inflation surged to 40.87 percent in June 2024 on a year-on-year basis, marking a 15.62 percent increase compared to June 2023’s rate of 25.25 percent.
It stated that the rise in food inflation was attributed to higher prices for key items, including millet, garri, guinea corn, yam, water yam, cocoyam, groundnut oil, palm oil and dried fish varieties.
On a month-to-month basis, food inflation in June 2024 was recorded at 2.55 percent, a slight increase from May 2024’s rate of 2.28 percent.
The NBS further reported that the average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending June 2024 was 35.35 percent representing 11.31 percent increase from the 24.03 percent recorded in June 2023.
In addition, the core inflation rate, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, rose to 27.40 percent in June 2024, a 7.34 percent increase from the 20.06 percent recorded in June 2023.
