Food crisis, hunger imminent in Benue State as drought persists

By TYAV SAM TYAV, Makurdi –

Farmers in Benue State who are experiencing serious drought for a number of weeks have started lamenting the devastating effect of the drought.

Already food and cash crops cultivated are fast weathering away over the prolonged absence of rain in the farming communities of the state.

A maize farmer in Gboko Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Solomon Zaki, who visited his maize farm became disappointed as the weathered maize had started defoliating, a pointer to the fact that he would not get a seed from the farm.

The farmer lamented that he had spent thousands of naira in the cultivation of maize which he lamented has become a waste.

Another farmer, whose interest is in yam farm, Mrs Christiana Tyav, has also experienced the same problem, as according to her, after she had fertilized her yam farm there has been no rain, a situation that has compelled the yams to begin to weather prematurely.

Also lamenting on the same issue is Mr. Terngu Iorwakwagh, whose cassava farm has already become a different thing.

He informed that he has prepared a large piece of land to plant cassava but weeks after preparing the piece of land there has been no rain to plant it even as the part that has already been planted, the stands are fast dying off.

But a man of God, Rev. Stephen Anshiom, who commented on the issue assured that God would provide rain for the people and vegetation and urged the people to go to God in prayers as he insisted also that God had assured the people of all the seasons both raining and dry seasons.