Land and soil degradation has been identified as a serious threat to food and nutrition security.

A communique by the Soil Science Society of Nigeria (SSSN) after its 39th annual conference held at Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, and made available to Daily Trust by the president, Professor Victor O. Chude, said that food and nutrition security is dependent on soil resources (soil, land and water), which are very vulnerable to climate change.

"Agriculture-based livelihood systems in Nigeria are very vulnerable to food insecurity especially in the low lying areas of coastal south-south; the flood prone areas of the south-west; the erosion prone areas of the south-east; the flood plain of the Niger-Benue trough, and the semi-arid/sahel drought/desertification prone areas of the north," the communique read in part.

SSSN noted that "in order to continue to feed the ever growing Nigerian population, there is an urgent need for effective soil management practices for optimal crop yields in all the agro-ecological zones of the country."

The Society urged all land users to adopt policies and protocols including climate smart-agriculture aimed at halting and reversing all forms of land and soil degradation.

Some farmers who spoke to Daily Trust on the issue lamented that they have being witnessing declining yield over the years due to deteriorating soil fertility, while others said they have lost considerable portions of their farm land to soil erosion among others.

"Our soils are dying. In the past, we hardly use fertiliser, but even now that we use fertiliser our yields are getting lower," a maize farmer from Nasarawa State, Mr Linus Audu, told Daily Trust reporter.

"It's really a challenge. Before, I used to get about 20 bags of maize from my farm, but now I get between 10 to 15 bags," Audu stressed.