Insecurity in Northern Nigeria has heterogeneous impacts on livelihoods and welfare, which operate through displacement, asset loss, constrained economic activity, and disrupted markets. Despite these constraints, livelihood diversification and enabling factors such as asset accumulation, education, financial inclusion, and market and social connectivity play a key role in sustaining welfare and enabling poverty escapes even in insecure settings. This brief summarises mixed methods evidence on the relationship between insecurity (with a focus on Boko Haram violence, banditry, and farmer-herder conflicts), livelihoods and welfare in Northern Nigeria. It points to the importance of multi-sectoral support to diversification alongside holistic consideration of multiple crises in Nigeria’s northern regions.
Key messages
Different forms of insecurity have distinct effects on livelihoods and welfare in Northern Nigeria, with Boko Haram violence and banditry showing stronger negative associations than farmer–herder conflicts and impacts varying across the welfare distribution.
Despite insecurity, livelihood diversification and enabling conditions such as asset accumulation, education, financial inclusion, and market and social connectivity are key to sustaining welfare and protecting against poverty.
Microenterprise recovery is a critical but under-supported pathway for resilience in crisis-affected areas where households commonly rely on diversified livelihoods.
Agricultural vulnerability in fragile contexts is shaped by climate and conflict risks, requiring broad investments in resilience, including through anticipatory action and livestock support for pastoralists and smallholder farmers.
Stronger alignment between security, humanitarian, and social protection systems building on the Federal Government’s ‘One Humanitarian – One Poverty Response System’ framework is essential for more coherent and effective responses in conflict affected regions.
Authored by Vidya Diwakar, Kareem Abdulrasaq, Judith-Ann Walker, Andrew Shepherd