Nigeria: Despite Government Inaction on Food Security, Ministry of Agriculture Calls for Fasting and Prayers to “Support Efforts”

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has directed its staff to observe fasting and prayer sessions this June to support the government’s “efforts” to achieve food security, despite the government taking little to no real action to resolve the deepening food crisis across the country.

In an internal circular dated June 11, 2025, signed by the Director of Human Resource Management, Mrs. Adedayo Modupe O., all staff were invited to a solemn prayer session themed “Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development.”

The event is scheduled for 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. at the ministry’s Abuja headquarters. Employees are also instructed to come fasting on Monday the 16th, 23rd, and 30th of June.

This directive is being issued when Nigeria grapples with one of its worst food insecurity emergencies.

According to the latest joint assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 26.5 million Nigerians are projected to face acute food insecurity during the peak of the 2025 lean season, a staggering increase from 18.6 million last year. In the northeast alone, 4.8 million people are already in crisis levels of hunger.

The roots of this crisis are not difficult to trace. Across Nigeria’s Middle Belt, including Benue, Plateau, and Nasarawa, widespread insecurity, violent attacks, and unchecked open grazing have displaced millions and devastated agricultural output.

In Benue State, known as the country’s “food basket,” thousands of farmers have been driven off their land by armed herdsmen. Farms have been burned, harvests lost, and entire communities forced into internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. The same is true in Plateau State, where deadly raids on farming villages have turned fertile fields into mass graves.

The ongoing collapse of food production in these regions is fueled by years of policy failure, government silence in the face of violence, and the abandonment of rural communities that form the backbone of domestic food production.

Despite the passage of anti-open grazing laws in several states, enforcement has been undermined or completely ignored at the federal level. Armed groups operate freely in rural areas. Security presence is minimal, and displaced farmers are left without support.

Instead of deploying the tools of policy and law to confront this breakdown, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is now turning to prayer and fasting. Rather than addressing land encroachment, providing security for farmers, or distributing inputs and funding to revive production, the ministry is organising worship sessions and asking staff to “seek God’s guidance.”

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