Farms in Kano State are at risk of crop failure following the premature end of the rainy season in September. The rainy and planting season in Kano usually starts in June and ends in October, but climate change has cut it short.
The last time Kano experienced such a short rainy season was 20 years ago. The local emirs in the northern states had directed residents to offer prayers against drought and ask for rain.
The unusual climate pattern did not only affect farmers in all the 44 local government areas of Kano but also those in the Jigawa, Sokoto, Bauchi and Katsina States and some parts of the Republic of Niger. The lack of rain had caused a decrease in this year’s harvests.
Farmer Yushau Ahmad complained that the rain shortage had cost him a significant amount of resources. He believed that the issue would soon cause food shortages across Nigeria.
“As subsistence a farmer, I planted sorghum, maize, rice and beans,” said Ahmad who invested more than ₦200,000 in the business, as quoted by The Guardian. “And as you can see, nobody would get half of what he got last year. This is a serious financial loss.”
“We do not know where to go, neither do we have any other means of survival,” said rice farmer Surajo Muhammad of the Garin Mallam Local Government while insisting that the level of food crisis would only become worse.
