Nigeria’s food security is increasingly at risk as devastating floods sweep through several key agrarian states, severely affecting farmers and destroying vast farmlands.
Agricultural experts warn that these floods result in massive losses for farmers, with many harvest-ready crops either partially or completely ruined. This destruction is expected to exacerbate the country’s ongoing food crisis, they say.
While the full extent of the damage is still being assessed, Ibrahim Kabiru, President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has confirmed that the floods are already disrupting Nigeria’s food systems, raising serious concerns about the nation’s agricultural stability.
“The impact of the floods happening across the states is threatening Nigeria’s food security,” Kabiru said. “We all know that this is climate change and we must do everything we can to mitigate it,” he said, attributing the torrential rainfall to climate change.
From Borno to Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Kaduna, Sokoto, and beyond, floods have devastated harvest-ready crops, raising urgent concerns among agricultural experts and food security advocates.
Read also: NEMA confirms 21 communities submerged by floods in Yobe
“It is clear that these floods are threatening Nigeria’s food systems,” Yahaya Ibrahim, professor of global environmental change at the African Aviation and Aerospace University, Abuja, shared with BusinessDay.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says floods in the first half of 2025 submerged over 9,450 hectares of farmland across 47 local government areas in 20 states. Over 165 people have died, thousands have been displaced, and food production has taken a critical hit.
In Benue State — Nigeria’s agricultural heartland floods on August 4 displaced over 5,000 residents, destroyed 1,200 homes, and ravaged vast swaths of farmland, according to Benue State Emergency Management Agency.
“This is everything I’ve worked for my whole life. Now I have nothing,” one farmer said, tearfully referring to his submerged rice fields.
In Adamawa State, in what residents say is one of the worst floods, heavy rains devastated Yolde Pate and Yola metropolis, destroyed farmlands, displaced 5,560 people and killed at least 25 people.
“The floods were sudden and completely unexpected,” said a victim who craved anonymity. “We’ve lived in Yolde Pate for years and usually know when to prepare, but this struck at odd hours.”
Climate change leading the flood
Experts say climate change is a major driver of these floods that is impacting both food systems and is displacing people.
“The repeated flooding is a wake-up call,” said Mathias Bwala, a former field officer at the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency. “Climate change is hitting us hard, and we need to adapt.”
This trend highlights an urgent need to tackle the impacts of climate change on our food systems.
Why floods persist
Several key factors, including inadequate enforcement of environmental regulations, rapid urbanisation causing deforestation, insufficient community involvement in flood prevention efforts, limited funding, poor urban planning, and the absence of flood-resilient infrastructure, among others.
Read also: Houses, farmlands destroyed as flood submerges two Nasarawa communities
What can be done?
Clearing drainage systems, proper urban planning, using flood-and drought-resistant crops, educating farmers on changing weather patterns, and cultivating crops on flood-resistant lands like highlands.
“Floods have both natural and man-made causes. Understanding flood patterns and taking proactive measures to reduce their impact is critical,” said Kabiru.
Floods are not new to Nigeria
In 2024, Nigeria faced a devastating flood, claiming 1,237 lives and affecting over 1.4 million hectares of farmland. Economic losses from the disaster totalled around $7 billion, according to figures from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Similarly, over 600 lives were lost and about 676,000 hectares of land were damaged or destroyed in 2022, according to the FAO.
Flooding is not new to Nigeria, but its intensity and frequency are escalating. The worst flooding in over 40 years occurred in 2012, triggered by heavy rainfall and the release of water from dams in neighbouring countries.
From 2011 to 2020, Nigeria recorded 1,187 flood-related deaths, accounting for 15 percent of Africa’s total flood fatalities during that period.
While climate change fuels a range of environmental crises—droughts, displacement, and more—it is flooding that delivers the most immediate and widespread devastation. Homes are destroyed, crops are ruined, and food insecurity deepens, leaving long-lasting impacts on communities and the economy.
The worst may still be ahead as the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA) predicts heavy floods will affect 198 local government areas across 31 states from August 7 to 21, 2025.
This follows an earlier warning by the NEMA for floods between August 5 and 9, targeting 76 locations in 19 states, signalling further challenges for the country.
