Published August 7th, 2009 by Future Atlas
Nigerian Stability: The Hunger Factor
The Washington Post reports another ominous factor for the stability of Nigeria.
David Hecht writes that Nigeria “cannot feed its 140 million people, and relatively minor reductions in rainfall could set off a regional food catastrophe, experts say.” Increased rainfall variability — which is a likely outcome of climate change — could cause this.
“The reality is that if the rains are bad throughout the region or the price of inputs became unaffordable, there could be massive food shortages, and neither the government nor any other institution stands ready to help,” a Nigerian agricultural official told Hecht.
Thirty-eight percent of young Nigerian children already suffer from malnutrition, and 65% of the population is food-insecure.
Nigerian instability would be disastrous for Africa, potentially dragging down much of West and Central Africa with it. Hecht writes of the direct effect of Nigerian food shortages driving food beyond affordability in poorer neighboring countries, but instability could add massive refugee flows, economic disruption, and spillover violence.
On the positive side, Nigeria could feed itself: the article notes that more than half of the country’s arable land is not being used, and only 7% of the land that could be used for irrigated farming is under the plow. If this were changed, Nigeria could be self-sufficient in both rice and wheat.
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CEK Says
Also hard hit: Nigerian Internet scammers:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603764.html
Aug 8th, 2009 at 4:09 pm