Hello everyone and thanks for joining us.

Our topic today is about whether it is really safe for farmers to go back to their land.

After six years of no, or very little, agricultural activities, some farmers in the northeast and Lake Chad region have begun returning to their land.

Local farmers told RNI that they had formed a better relationship with members of the extremist group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and they believed that they could soon return to their land and work in safety. In fact, some farmers had already done so.

And, during his one-day visit to Borno State on the 7th of June, President Muhammadu Buhari directed security agencies, including the military and police, to work with the Borno State government and farmers’ associations to find ways to increase the safety of farmers who want to get back to their land and to return to forests and fishing grounds.

Our guests are:

• Bulama Gana, the permanent secretary of the Borno State ministry of agriculture and natural resources
• Mohammed Shettima Mahmood, an agricultural expert, and
• Mohammed Bulama Maina, chairman of the Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria