it's failed to communicate that effectively. over 1000 has had devastating effects in latin america's economy and health care systems. it has now reached what many call the end of the world as the virus continues to spread a vaccine is the one chance governments have to make it stop. when a society is. low that this is al jazeera and these are the headlines u.s. president on trump is suggesting he will not sign a massive coronavirus relief bill unless it's amended by congress he says he wants congress to raise stimulus payments to individual americans from $600.00 to $2000.00 and trump has also announced presidential pardons for 15 people they include 4 military contractors convicted of shooting dead 14 civilians in iraq in

2007 charles stratford is in baghdad for us and spoke to one of the victims injured in that 2007 attack and in his words he described this decision by president trump to pardon these men as a complete betrayal of human rights a total disaster he said that he was utterly shocked he said that throughout all these years he'd had face in the american judicial system he said that this decision means that that faith is now completely disappeared. and as i say is very shocked at this decision. scuffles have broken out between police and angry truck drivers stranded outside the english port of dover the french government has eased border restrictions with the u.k. now over mutated strain of the coronavirus thousands of drivers are still stuck at the border. al jazeera journalist mahmud hussein has now spent 4 years in a gyptian detention without being charged or put on trial hussein was arrested

while visiting family in december 26th in a number of human rights organizations have joined al jazeera and demanding his immediate release eyewitnesses have told al jazeera that rebels in central african republic have seized a major town they say the new alliance calling itself the patriots coalition for change took over after fighting with u.n. backed government troops but the u.n. mission insists the town has not fallen to rebels and this latest violence comes just days before the country's presidential election and israel will be holding its a 4th election in 2 years after the collapse of the government coalition column and was dissolved after failing to meet a deadline to pass the budget and snap election will now be held in march next year all those other headlines to remain will be here after inside story.

fighting for survival farmers in northern nigeria risked their lives to secure produce but a surge in attacks on them is threatening the nation's food reserves and putting millions of people at risk of starvation so how can farm workers and crops be protected this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm. attacked by armed bandits and being kidnapped or forced to pay levies before they can reach their farmlands farmers in northern nigeria are caught between protecting their lives and their livelihoods

deteriorating security in the north west is reducing food reserves and adding to the nation's food crisis its estimated output has dropped by 60 percent the violence is compounding challenges caused by climate change and the coronavirus pandemic i'm address reports from katsina state where hundreds of people including schoolchildren have been recently abducted in north western nigeria where i'm to bend its room free most barrios regularly for and hardly a day passes without an attack on a village somewhere that leaves either dead or injured and those taken hostage in time villages have been sacked crippling local economies and social activities. if you. spent well over 6 years in towns of trying to control this the last among our farmers that cannot access their farms the loss of what you booze the loss of cotton the loss of mills of level who people who cannot accept their

farms the quantum is there to imagine it has negatively. impacted on the lives of people the violence that began as a localized conflict between farmers and cattle herders in just one area has now escalated to a full blown crisis affecting the whole region and beyond. the recent abduction of hundreds of school children by those the government describes as band it underlines the worsening security situation in northwest nigeria. many pharmacy have been forced to leave their land after being unable to pay off their armed groups to find a farmer who can pump about 10 to 20 heck that's what this is cutie they cannot be able to fund their farms and it wonder. where to go to bed

lassie to be up to 5 hectares there where earth would be important to abandon their land and be inside the town this to take a food again the insecurity the cattle herders association says nearly every member has had some animal story. here but cattle market there are only a few animals on display raids by armed bandits have depleted stocks and potential buyers are staying away and in the grain section of the market it's a similar picture the northwest is nigeria's main grain and cereal producing region the fighting here sparked fears of food shortages in the months ahead. with attacks now growing in number and sophistication reassuring words from the central government of a little comfort to those facing such violence and the misery brings home address al-jazeera northwest nigeria nigeria's food stocks have declined to less than

30000 metric tons a fraction of what it needs the u.n. has warned people in the northeast could face famine 2700000 people in that region were projected to face critical hunger last year an estimated 53 percent of the population required humanitarian assistance years of armed conflict mainly with boko haram has worsened the food crisis that's driven primarily by poverty the group has been blamed for the killing of dozens of farmers in recent months. all right let's bring in our guests who are all in we have sara bob a nigeria a country director at one a global movement campaigning to end it stream poverty by 2030. 2 is a geo political analyst at the security think tank africa llega and we're also joined by social justice and political activists i show you welcome to each of you

sara let me start with you could you break down for our viewers the threats faced by farmers in the northwest of the country versus the threats faced by farmers in the north east of the country sure thank you mohamed. with colvin at the onset of coal that they had been severe impacts on the economy and the farmers in the north east and elsewhere have not been any different i do think however that. if for example the economy is contracting that we know oil prices are going down so the entire economy's feeling the shock and the impact of corbett but i think there's an additional impact which is the security issues the security issues particularly in the north east in the northwest as well banditry is at an all time high and it's something that is affecting not just economy but the farmers the livelihood and the sort of the the the the way people are living in the northeast in northwest

this has been exacerbated further by climate change we see that the property and the land they were used by farmers to graze their cattle in the past are no longer available waters being a scarce resource that is really providing a pressure to the already high tension across the country and we can't forget the tribal tribal issues with the with the people across nigeria with airing with with tribes that perhaps and get along in the past but now it's being it's been accentuated by the limited resources both in the economic standpoint climate change and of course the banditry and security issues that nigeria's facing so all in all i think it's worth noting that not just the north east north west a feeling that the entire country is feeling this because we're linked right our food supply is linked to the north east in the northwest of the north central quite frankly and the south so all nigerians are feeling the impact of this over the way

i want to ask you to expand on this last point that sara was making i mean just how much of an effect are these attacks on farmers in the northeast and the northwest having on the country's food supply and on the country's food reserves. well thanks for having me so for instance we just said from the off on my suspicion of an engineer that is in the northwest casting them for juba that half of the farmers have not been able to found because of the instanced in steve perry to now that that's the middle is a major problem because if you look at how much. as chains and instead they can make your food producer you know in the sixty's we could see we love the food security you know just in the following their kids you know negligence and a live event from sources in government who she said for cause to in order for her

production or their respect of you know that our lives lost a lot of guts that i've seen those include of 2 of 2 to this so even if the president or the current administration is driving of its efforts in trying to groom a path of a group more ice but the recent days in so much of an impact yes we are growing more of those but i mean doesn't that will happen in late august in cases with reince fell on them before in a just swept away in the last question of you know crops that are due for harvest and all of its audience food productivities goes goes on that is the resilience of well you know what i can about the climate shocks working about their core business and been a major shock. banditry which has also really been a major problem for farmers in casted for instance you know we were also hearing reports of in abundance preventing. you know from going to their farms archivist at

the mill joe obviously the going outside as i'm sorry interrupt you because i want to i would do want to get back to that point specifically about the bandits in just a couple of minutes but let me move on right now to i shall i shall i want to ask you about an attack that was carried out in the last several weeks in a village in the northeast called sabar mari this is an attack where dozens of farmers were killed and some reports say that it happened because farmers had reported boko haram as presents to the nigerian army do you know if that is actually the case well 1st of all thank you for having me one of the things that we did hear from the beatles caused by the terrorist was the fact that while i know sam had. in court and handed over to the. military and so because of that they came to punish the families and they killed over 40 of them slaughtered them and you know dick up to them and for that's one of the problems that are being

faced beyond the issue of you know telling the people the government and in the people that they need we need to go back to our farms agricultural need to be improved but the main issues are there's no security in the farms and a lot of people have been killed in the us and many people many farmers have had to up by and their farms i'm because of insecurity so it's really a dicey one that nigeria nigeria is being faced with we do have the situation of insecurity not just the or fortunate incidents that happened in the family but all over the country where people have been attacked it was in the south and part of the country if you will have been killed on the farms and right now it's people are really very insecure especially farmers and many of them have been forced to abandon their farms so i saw you nodding along to some what i she was saying did you want to join in or respond to the point she was making yes i just bought on i mean this issue of insecurity is not just facing those in the northeast or

northwest the southern people are being killed in their farms in the south so i do think that it's so important that our borders are being patrolled better i think that insecurity is slowing nigeria's development down yes we have called it yes there are other shocks there plans a system but the security issue is not helping at all as lumping it's allowing the external both internal actors and external actors lose faith in nigeria so i think it's the number one priority issue that the government needs to face and luckily or are not for us security is a constitutional matter it's of the federal government so this is very much within the ambit of the federal government and we need. made a very firm quick response to the security issue ok i want to get back to the point you were making when it comes to these groups that are referred to as as bandits or armed bandits because that seems to be

a catch all term when it comes to what's going on in the northwest of the country could you break down to our viewers you know what is meant by officials when they say bandits how many groups are we talking about. what was the exact number is. this is all known but we know the increase in organized out i mean they've gone from those criminals who. were shot to something like an organized criminal network cost several where you know so from cattle rustling you know illegal mining is sometimes a good news one for us today the government had to shut down all 'd mine activities because there was a concern that these bundy's i were going into illegal mining and does. significantly increase backup ability because they would use those resources in to fund operations like our homes and all of that whatever mobility asked as you know that they need so what are its farming with its mining they've really been it on

the flesh. of the country cities now instead of our key state that our food produced is like candy you know the food is out of the rice we have an engineer i was the staple in banditry has been a major problem for farmers and then it also is issue of cattle rustling you know as well so if you look at the dynamics in office of nigeria is not particularly good even in even indian in the northeast as well so whether we want to call them bundy's or organized criminals or whatever it doesn't matter the fact is every of our sector require us to cure people particularly in farming because this part of this farm are actually you know in vulnerable position to be in farms with are way way out of town and they will be there for long hours working so advanced in the spirit without the government is going to employ 'd vigilante groups or militants

if it cannot really deploy its forces they will have to do something because since the advent of the so-called as a park on strategy that caused the then germany to withdraw its of its forces from hinterlands. communities it does live this coming to the vulnerable so are so few dug up there needs to be new efforts towards maybe. outsourcing to militias or. new vigilante groups to sort of provide the security cover up the these farmers need because it's a very precarious situation in what is naja to book. and into 1 the local government is a government the boosted by them who government has a viable enough 50 communities or 2 of those communities are farming communities rebel as i'm sitting there in the many of these of the away call of refugees all the way let me let me let me let me just let me just come back to you on that let me go to with another question you know you are raising the specter of the fact

that farmers are going to be needing more security that that is the reality on the ground right now so i should do the farmers in whether it be the northeast the northwest other parts of the country are they getting any protection from the nigerian army are they just left to fend on their own and what can be done to get them the kind of security that they so desperately need right now. definitely they are not getting the kind of the farmers and you are not getting the security that you need not just the farmers the one juror the whole of nigeria there's no security and sadly we have a government that it's not focused on the primary responsibility of government i mean the premise was a bit of government like we know it is a protection of life some properties and any government that cannot protect the less some properties of its citizens it's not so because the government we have a situation today where the terrorists are doing what they want to do how they want to be around when they want to do it and this issue of calling some band-aids

antares i mean i don't get it because at the end of the day is that inflicting terror on people that are arising communities and they are terrorist so issues of white sort of like sugar coating it and calling them band beats and myth and maybe that's not just the way it is they are terrorists are right now families are not secured everywhere like i did say 9 jurors are not secured everywhere and what we need to do is 1st of all to build up our intelligence gathering unit our security agents that ad agencies that are supposed to be in charge of intelligence gathering so to be nowhere to be fun and if and when citizens try to reach out to them and give them information somehow somewhere it gets back to the terrorists and the citizens are punished what happened is about money this is not the 1st time it's happening there have been a number of times where the terrorists have come to our touch citizens act out villages attack amenities because they have been found to be working with the military and so sr for the things that we need to do is to ensure that our intelligence gathering capacity is improved upon we need to look into the mirror

military and sure that they're in the right and they need to be instructed take leadership the commander in chief needs to know that he is the commander in chief and gift strategy leadership to so the military act like i say that it's there all the issue of protection of life some property is sorely our constitution as close to call as is today. the constitution in the hands of the federal government and the federal government that it's supposed to do this right now if it is not today and that is in the week and we are not fit in that hour we need to have a situation whereby in deep military i check let's look for example what happened in cuts in that state in concord out where hundreds of why swept up dead in their school the commander in chief had gotten into a that's very the yet it did not deter terrorists from going on with the attack this still wait or minute that the charges are filed their concerts know that there's no strategy and there's no leadership on both and it's in the from from the

nigerian military and that's really side sarah earlier you were talking about the other factors that are compounding the misery right now one of them being climate change one of them being over 1000 pandemic i want to ask you more about the economic impact that all of these concurrent crises are having in nigeria i mean is there any prospect of being able to turn things around economically when it comes to perhaps job creation anything that can be done to try to help the economy there . so the good news is yes we might not turn things around in 2021 but there are a few things that are coming up that nigeria musky into the 1st is the african free trade continental agreement now what's happening is that our economies are constricting and contracting across the world not just nigeria and where the a u has landed and many countries have signed is this continental free trade agreement that will help

a country like nigeria expand ability to create jobs increase economic activity so it's going to be paramount for the edge eery of that we are vested in the african free trade continental agreement and we are trading 90 percent of tariffs will be removed trading across borders this is huge for africa this is huge for nigeria it's huge for countries like south africa gonna nigeria they'll benefit the most in addition there's a single african air transport market that is upcoming this is part of the a use also. agenda 2063 it is important the nigeria takes advantage of that single air transportation market again it boost intra africa trade if africa could see itself as one big market if we have an opportunity to create more jobs for people we have an opportunity to create more economic activity we already know that niger has a significant entrepreneurial spirit so taking advantage of these up and coming areas is going be important ecowas also has

a trading protocol how can we bring about a live it's going to be desperate in the next few months to create jobs a lack of jobs increases insecurity a lack of jobs increases poverty we already seeing all high and security measures across the country and across the the world quite frankly we're also seeing poverty rising on 14 nigeria's upon the capital of the of the world and we're seeing that with cove it poverty is going to rise with the contracting of the condiment you know sub-saharan africa is going to go into the 1st collective research recession in 25 years so we're. really are an insta gether and we need to look for how to create jobs together the private sector somehow government gets into creating jobs and it's house all the things it's doing to create jobs but at the end of the day it's one percent that the government will create one percent of all the jobs needed the government can create the private sector will create 99 percent so let's let the private sector do what it does best create jobs to teaming young people we have

so we can stabilize security we can stabilize our economy and we can reduce poverty in nigeria and on the continent i want to go back to the point you were making earlier when it comes to the security situation you know how can the government how can the federal government and its partners intervene effectively in all of this and try to turn around the situation. i think 1st of all we have to it again look at who has agency which is that if the feds are going in this case how their government that is assessed ties in that agency we know that there is a most national most national game task force in place that we've got is couldn't have an engineer come around and chat trying to walk to get out to climb down you know book or an issue as as the government is trying to fight within but there's a lot of bill of gaps with eyes and strategy with you know where weapons want us to look not. as to the minuscule that the government gives both of our confidence

nobody talks about confidence so we will we've tried with we're trying to boost confidence for assad as well operational flintlock is an animal exercise between the united states as. was a concept of our country and then just participated in the last one is supposed to be another one next year there are these partnerships that while we've been engaging for a while one last thing the results on the ground when i look on the ground because it's it's not as top down problem with the bottom or problem as well you know the solution the solution coming from top down board but the problem is really boiling as i read at the community level because if people don't feel secure 'd in their countries we don't have enough coordination between. when your. child come out as it was as it were within the 1st 2 years of president gore mounted while you commute off to america itself into into iraq the presidency yes

but i said and was really interesting about it was some way somehow that as 2000 miles died down over the years it will do the trick is to present unlike us in recently the treadmill grew stronger so perhaps you know we might have to rethink that our corporations strategy who are putting us you'd be. and even if we have a problem that we are not to go we're not evil at this and that's our proposal to work with because mind you the republic of china which is only voted to denote completely over the years about name just like of capacity the times we're tied down to is actually coming to an end to an angel confided book or are we not once not twice so maybe we live we were seeing the addition of corporation limited we had a crew of us as it were so we have to look at ourselves and look at how to improve this partnership because who cannot fight is who's up front snuff and are in no problem don't require transnational solutions all right we're if we run out of

times we're going to have to leave it there thanks so much to all of our guests sarah michael bay of who and i say yes to food and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website at c.n.n. dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter handle is at a.j. inside story for me mama june the whole team here bye for now.

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an invitation to bear witness to all that life office. the high school the lives the trials and tribulations. and everyday miracles the injustices the defiance the tests of character and the person to witness documentaries with a delicate touch on al-jazeera. every year 50000000 tons of electronic waste is thrown away the majority is illegally dumped in developing countries right now electronic waste is the most traded as it is with retracing the tech through the criminal organizations making big profits and asking why the west is turning a blind. eye on the waste trail on al-jazeera. i've

been covering all of latin america for most of my career but no country is alike and it's my job to shed light on how and why. this is al-jazeera i'm dating with a check on your world headlines u.s. president donald trump suggesting he will not sign a massive coronavirus relief bill unless it's amended by congress he says he wants congress to raise stimulus payments to individual americans from $600.00 to $2000.00 how does 0 castro has more from washington d.c. that's not normal washington for you just yesterday when this bill was careening towards final vote much celebrated as a bipartisan achievement after months of stalemate well the white house message was that president trouble was on board.