Appraisal of Farm Produce Loss and Mitigating Strategies on Farmers Affected by Banditry in Some Affected Lga’s of Kaduna State Nigeria

The issue of banditry in Kaduna State North West Nigeria is a household phenomenon. Today farmers in Kaduna State and especially in Zangon Kataf, Kajuru and Birnin Gwari respectively experienced significant losses of their farm produce as a result of the activities of bandits who attack their communities and destroys their farms thereby causing a serious challenge and food insecurity. The attacks by these bandits and other criminals hampers the smooth running of their farming activities of providing food for the nation. This research have shown that banditry in Zangon Kataf, Kajuru, and Birnin Gwari LGAs has transitioned from an isolated security challenge to a developmental crisis that led over 60% of farmers in the areas to experienced devastating agricultural losses. The research adopts a mixed-method approach combining “qualitative and quantitative” methods for the understanding of the problem as well as preferring mitigating strategies such as strengthen rural security infrastructure through permanent joint task forces and mobile patrols, formalizing community policing with training and supervision by state authorities, promoting inter-communal peace dialogues involving traditional and religious leaders and integrating environmental management into conflict prevention frameworks etc in other cub food insecurity in Kaduna state and Nigeria at large.