Impacts of Banditry on Food Security in Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

Banditry is one of the major forms of insecurity that has affected the northwest geopolitical zone for the past decade. Banditry has affected all facets of human life among which is food security in the States affected including Katsina State. The objectives of the article are to explain the impacts of banditry on food security and highlight the recent efforts of the Government in tackling banditry to improve food security among others. The methodology adopted to generate data for the study is through the use of focus group discussion involving two groups of five persons each from the LGAs that are affected by banditry which is sampled for the study namely Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Faskari, and Dandume. The results have shown that banditry has negatively affected food security in Katsina State. These negative impacts include killing and kidnapping of farmers, chasing of farmers out of their farmlands, seizing of farmlands, theft of cattle, burning and raiding of grain silos, and blocking of local trade routes. The Federal and State Governments are making efforts towards tackling banditry and improving food security among others. These efforts are still on-going and have not achieved the desired objectives. It is therefore recommended that decisive measures should be adopted to tackle banditry for improved food security.