Violent conflicts reshape input use and productivity in smallholder farming: Findings from Nigeria
Many studies have demonstrated that low application of productivity-enhancing inputs such as inorganic fertilizer and improved seeds is a key constraint to low agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.
- conflicts
- smallholders
- Nigeria
- farm inputs
By Mulubrhan Amare, Kwaw Andam, Bedru Balana, Steven Were Omamo, and Opeyemi Olanrewaju
Many studies have demonstrated that low application of productivity-enhancing inputs such as inorganic fertilizer and improved seeds is a key constraint to low agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. For instance, yields of maize, a major staple cereal in Nigeria, remain far below their potential, with smallholders averaging under 2 metric tons (MT) per hectare compared to up to a 6-8 MT/ha potential yield under good agronomic practices. A key lever recommended for narrowing this large productivity gap is the increased application of nitrogen-based fertilizer and improved seed varieties.
However, in environments with heightened security threats, such as the northeast regions of Nigeria—where farmer-herder clashes, the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry attacks, and forms of communal violence continue—protracted violent conflicts significantly alter farmers’ risk calculations, impede access to inputs, and lower returns from the inputs. This suggests that conventional input subsidy strategies may fall short of high productivity goals unless they explicitly account for the fragility and conflict conditions on the ground. Past studies rarely examined how spatial variation in conflict exposure influences input use, yield response, and the profitability of fertilizer investments.