Amidst rising food prices and economic hardship, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are increasingly turning to urban farming as a means to supplement their food supply and reduce household expenses.
Urban farming, which has gained popularity in recent years allows residents to grow their own food in small spaces such as backyards, sand-filled sacks, container gardening and on limited undeveloped plots. However, the scale of these solutions is often too small to meet their needs.
Despite the growing interest, residents face a major hurdle—there is limited access to land within the city as Abuja, known for its rapid urban development and in most areas dominated by residential, commercial, and governmental buildings.
With land already scarce and expensive, many aspiring urban farmers struggle to find suitable spaces to cultivate crops and expand their farming.
“I have tried growing vegetables in pots, but the yield is not enough for my family. If we had access to more land, we could grow enough to feed ourselves and even sell some produce,” said Maryam Abubakar, a resident of Orozo.
The competition for land in Abuja is high, with developers eyeing any available plots for housing estates and commercial projects. This has made it difficult for urban farming initiatives to gain traction.
In response to these concerns, Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN ), FCT chapter, Perpetual Okafor appealed for government support for land allocation to expand production.
“We appeal for support in other to enable us contribute our quota towards achieving Nutrition and Food Security in Nigeria. We pledge our assurance that such support financial, material and/or otherwise will reach the targeted audience in the FCT.
We also humbly appeal to our FCT Minister, Ezenwo Nyisome Wike (CON) to allocate farmlands to AFAN FCT members in all the six Area Councils where we hope to have cluster farming and cottage industries to encourage youth, women and people with disabilities to venture into farming as a means to achieving Nutrition and Food Security in Nigeria”, Okafor said.
Another farmer, Umah Udoh, a 75 years old grape farmer in Kuje lamented lack of government support for farm expansion.
He said, “The area of support we need is land and capital to expand our business, I am getting older and we will keep crying until government hears us”.
