How methane emissions fuel Nigeria’s food crisis

BY MARTHA AGAS

Gazing at the spotted leaves of her cocoyam plant, Victoria Tamuno of Ayamabele community, Bayelsa, feels a familiar fear—the warning signs of another low harvest.

This situation has recurred for more than a decade on plants in the community.

However, the issue is not limited to her cocoyam farm; the cassava and yam crops are not doing any better.

“They either rotted in the soil or the tubers were so tiny, while some species went extinct. This was not the case in the past.”

The mother of nine, in her 60s battling with a sick husband, says she is struggling and burdened by the situation.

“Even with the improved cassava stem cuttings given to them by various interventions, the result is similar, she sighed.”

In Ikarama community, another small holder farmer, Gold Moses, a widow and mother of five, said for more than a decade, she watched her harvest shrink.

“The yams harvests are small and spoil much more quickly in storage than they used to. “In time past, we can store it for one year, now it can’t even last for five months.”

She takes plantain to Zarama market, the biggest market in Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), where buyers from Rivers, Imo and Delta states and other parts of the country come to get food crops both for consumption and retail.

However, the prices buyers want are mostly not favourable to many famers. She says this is due to the cost of cultivating the farmland which is not commensurate to the amount often generated from most sales in addition to their low yield.

“We suffer to plant but we don’t see anything to harvest”, she lamented.

Yams harvested already rotten from the soil in Zarama community in Bayelsa Cassava also from Zarama community

In distraught, she says, the land in the region is no longer productive as even fishermen face similar situation and mostly return home with low fish catches. Many fish species, she observes, have become scarce or probably extinct.

In all these developments, the farmers believe activities of oil and gas companies have taken a toll on their rivers and farmlands which have been their source of livelihood for generations.

Their experiences are not isolated. Across other oil-producing communities in the Niger-Delta, farmers and fishermen also lament.

In Akwa-Ibom and Rivers States, community members and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in oil-producing areas report similar patterns of declining agricultural productivity and livelihoods.

In Akwa-Ibom, EmemEdoho, Executive Director of the Network Advancement Programme for Poverty and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAPPDRR), says the organisation has observed significant changes in the farming and fishing communities of EsitEket, Ibeno and Mbo over the past five years.

A similar picture emerges in Rivers, where farmers from the Nvakohia-Rumuekpe cluster, comprising Ovelle, Imogu, Ogale and Ekwutche communities in Emohua Local Government Area, say their crops no longer grow properly on their land.

The Healthy Life Development Initiative (HELDi) working in oil-producing communities in Rivers to promote environmental sustainability, public health and community resilience, particularly for vulnerable groups confirmed the situation.

HELDi’s Coordinator, Dr MfonUtin, said the organisation had observed declining productivity of economic tree crops, including oil palm, coconut, mango, citrus and other fruit trees that had traditionally served as important sources of household income and food security.

Utin said one of the devastating socio-economic consequences included migration, particularly among women and young people who depended heavily on farming and fishing for their livelihoods.

Analysts say the impact of declining agricultural productivity extends beyond the Niger-Delta, contributing to the loss of livelihoods, deepening poverty and increasing vulnerability to health challenges. Location of some affected Niger-Delta communities mentioned.

They note that the situation is further compounded by rising food prices, economic hardship and insecurity, particularly in northern Nigeria, the country’s major food-producing region, where many farmers are unable to access their farmlands or risk being kidnapped.

According to SBM Intelligence, farmers in parts of the region are also subjected to multiple taxation by bandit groups operating in rural communities.

The worsening conditions are reflected in food security projections.

The Cadre Harmonisé estimated that about 33.1 million Nigerians would face acute food insecurity during the 2025 lean season, an increase of about seven million people compared with the previous lean season.

The number is expected to rise further, with nearly 35 million people projected to experience acute and severe food insecurity during the 2026 lean season.

UNICEF also estimates that about two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

Map of Nigeria showing areas affected in Northern Nigeria by insecurity Methane, a silent but dangerous driver of food crisis in Niger-Delta While insecurity, economic shocks, climate hazards and structural weaknesses remain the major drivers of Nigeria’s food crisis, analysts say another less visible factor is also intensifying the challenge.

Methane (CH₄), a colourless and odourless gas, is increasingly being linked to worsening food insecurity.

Emitted primarily from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors, methane is a potent greenhouse gas that accelerates global warming and contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can damage ecosystems and reduce crop yields.

Although methane remains in the atmosphere for a much shorter period than carbon dioxide, it is far more powerful in trapping heat.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, methane has a global warming potential about 86 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 20- year period, making it one of the most significant drivers of near-term climate change.

In Nigeria, the oil and gas sector is the largest source of methane emissions, accounting for about 60 per cent of the country’s total methane output.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), methane emissions from oil and gas operations occur through both intentional releases, such as venting and unintentional leaks, commonly known as fugitive emissions, from equipment, pipelines and other infrastructure.

In the Niger-Delta, where much of Nigeria’s oil and gas activities are concentrated, methane emissions have been linked to environmental degradation, including air and land pollution and disruptions to local livelihoods dependent on farming and fishing.

These impacts also undermine efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on ending hunger, improving food security and nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture, while hindering progress toward SDG 13 on climate action.

According to data from the Emission Monitoring and Accountability Tool (EMAT), Mobil recorded the highest level of emissions in 2023, with more than 256 million units.

Heirs Energies Limited and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) now Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited followed with 217 million and 135 million units respectively.

Level of Gas Emissions as captured by EMAT Nigeria is a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge (GMP), unveiled at COP26.

Under the pledge, countries committed to contributing to a collective global effort to reduce methane emissions by at least 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030.

In addition, Nigeria’s revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement includes a commitment to reduce fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas operations by 60 per cent by 2031.

As part of efforts to advance methane reduction, the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IEA in February to strengthen cooperation on methane emissions reduction, gas development, clean cooking access and technical support.

The agreement provides a framework for policy coordination, technical support and data sharing on methane action.

However, despite these commitments, methane emissions and gas flaring remain challenges in Nigeria’s oil-producing regions.