Implications of Land-border Closure and Reopening for Food Supply Chains in South-West Nigeria
Ogunremi Olugbenga Ayobami *
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, England.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Land-border restrictions can alter market access and the organisation of regional food distribution. This study describes reported food-price and food-security experiences in South-West Nigeria in the context of Nigeria’s border closure and subsequent reopening.
Methods: A cross-sectional field survey in 2025 included 127 respondents. Percentage distributions and exploratory chi-square summaries were analysed.
Results: Respondents were predominantly aged 26–45 years (55.9%), and 81.9% reported tertiary education. Following reopening, 37.8% reported no change in food prices, whereas 25.2% reported substantial increases and 18.9% slight decreases. Among 126 classified responses to a retrospective question about closure, 85 participants reported meal reduction or skipping. A separate item asking about shortages when borders were open received 40 “sometimes”, 26 “often”, and 21 “always” responses. The reported chi-square summaries indicate possible associations with education and occupation, but underlying contingency tables are unavailable for independent evaluation.
Conclusions: Respondents described heterogeneous experiences of food access and prices; the cross-sectional data do not isolate the causal effect of border policy. Further research with verified individual-level records, consistent item coding and objective market observations is required to establish policy-specific effects.
Keywords: Cross-border trade, food supply, food security, household perceptions, Nigeria, border management, descriptive survey