Flood submerges rice, maize farms in Adamawa ― RIFAN

THE Adamawa Chapter of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has said that with over 5,000 of its members affected by the flood, food security in the state was under threat.

The chapter’s Chairman made the assertion in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Yola.

Maduwa said that the organisation, which has 7, 000 registered members in the state, was, however, yet to ascertain the extent of damages caused by the flood.

According to him, the earlier predicted bumper harvest is now being threatened by flood.

“Reports reaching us from our various local government area offices, especially those along the bank of River Benue, revealed that flood had submerged some farmlands.

“We received reports from 18 out of 21 local government areas, excluding Jada, Ganye and Toungo,” he said.

He complained that the majority of the farmers obtained bank loans for the rainfall farming and appealed to the government to look into the matter.

Similarly, the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA ), has said that it had begun compilation of accurate data of the affected communities in the state.

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Dr Muhammed Suleiman, the Executive Secretary of the agency confirmed the development to NAN in Yola.

Suleiman also confirmed that thousands of farmers were affected by the flood across the state.

“Currently, we are compiling the number of affected persons. And available records show that the flood had submerged thousands of hectares of maize and rice farmlands,” Suleiman said.

He said that state government has reached out to some affected communities in Numan Local Government Area.