How Displaced Farmers, Traders, and Artisans Survive in IDP Camps — and Who Profits from Their Suffering-  
                                 —Ubuntu Rooted in Humanity —

The ongoing insecurity in northern and central Nigeria, driven by Boko Haram, ISWAP, banditry, and communal violence, has forced millions of people from their homes. Among the most affected are farmers, traders, and artisans, whose livelihoods depend on stable access to land, markets, and clients.

Displacement often means abandoning not only property and income but also the social and economic networks that sustained communities for generations. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) face harsh living conditions in camps, making survival a daily struggle, while corruption, exploitation, and weak governance create an environment where some individuals and groups profit from their vulnerability.

Understanding the survival strategies of IDPs and the structural inequities that allow exploitation reveals both the resilience of displaced populations and the systemic failures that perpetuate suffering.

1. The Nature of IDP Camps in Nigeria

IDP camps in Nigeria are primarily established in safer towns, government facilities, or makeshift settlements. They often share several common characteristics:

• Overcrowding: Camps frequently house far more people than intended, leading to strained resources and inadequate sanitation.

• Limited basic services: Access to clean water, electricity, healthcare, and food is irregular or insufficient.

• Temporary housing: Tents, mud huts, or repurposed school buildings serve as shelter, offering minimal protection against weather or disease.

• Food and aid dependency: Most residents rely heavily on humanitarian assistance from the government, NGOs, or international organizations.

For displaced farmers, traders, and artisans, these conditions dramatically reduce the ability to work, forcing them into survival modes that may compromise dignity, health, and long-term prospects.

2. Survival Strategies of Displaced Farmers

Farmers displaced from their lands face unique challenges:

• Loss of land and livestock: Without fields to cultivate or animals to herd, traditional sources of food and income disappear.

• Dependency on food aid: Farmers often rely on rations provided by organizations such as the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and local NGOs. Food aid, however, may be insufficient, irregular, or poorly distributed.

• Small-scale farming in camp perimeters: Some farmers cultivate small plots or community gardens within or near camps to supplement food rations, though space, tools, and seeds are limited.

• Labor for wages: Farmers may accept menial work in neighboring towns or with humanitarian organizations in exchange for cash or goods, often under exploitative conditions.

Despite resilience and adaptability, these strategies cannot fully restore pre-displacement income or food security, leaving many households in chronic economic precarity.

3. Survival Strategies of Displaced Traders

Traders, whose livelihoods depend on commerce and networks, face particularly acute challenges:

• Market access disruption: Trading hubs are often abandoned or destroyed, cutting off supply chains.

• Informal commerce: Many traders resort to small-scale informal trade within camps or with local host communities, selling basic goods, textiles, or household items.

• High cost of goods: Displaced traders frequently pay inflated prices for supplies due to limited availability or middlemen exploitation, shrinking profit margins.

• Barter and alternative economies: In some camps, displaced traders create micro-economies using barter or camp-specific currencies, enabling limited transactions without cash.

For traders, survival requires creativity, social networking, and sometimes compromise of profitability to ensure families’ basic needs are met.

4. Survival Strategies of Displaced Artisans

Artisans — tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, and craftsmen — face severe disruption to both supply chains and markets:

• Limited clientele: Traditional customers are often inaccessible, leaving artisans without income.

• Camp-based production: Artisans may set up small workshops within camps to serve fellow IDPs or nearby communities. Output is typically minimal, and resources are scarce.

• Training and skill adaptation: Some artisans adapt their skills to meet humanitarian needs, producing items like mats, tools, or repairs for shelters, though these are often underpaid or unpaid.

• NGO-supported initiatives: Occasionally, organizations provide seed funding or materials for camp-based craft cooperatives, but these opportunities are limited and competitive.

Survival for artisans is precarious; their skills offer limited protection without access to stable markets, raw materials, and secure infrastructure.

5. Who Profits from Displacement?

While IDPs struggle, certain actors exploit their vulnerability:

1. Corrupt officials: Reports indicate that some local government officials or camp managers divert aid intended for displaced persons, selling food, building materials, or medical supplies for personal gain.

2. Middlemen and traders: Some local merchants inflate prices for goods in and around camps, taking advantage of captive demand.

3. Criminal networks: Kidnappers, bandits, and extortionists sometimes target IDPs for ransom, forced labor, or illegal recruitment.

4. Politically connected elites: In some cases, IDP dependence is leveraged for political influence, with elites distributing aid selectively to gain loyalty or votes.

5. International aid bottlenecks: Inefficient bureaucracies, logistical mismanagement, and opaque distribution chains occasionally create opportunities for profit at the expense of the displaced.

These dynamics exacerbate suffering and can transform humanitarian dependency into a perverse economic system where the most vulnerable indirectly generate income for opportunists.

6. Psychological and Social Strain

The economic exploitation and survival pressures in IDP camps carry heavy psychological costs:

• Stress and trauma: The combination of displacement, loss of livelihoods, and uncertainty about the future leads to anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.

• Family breakdown: Adults may take extreme measures to secure survival, including child labor, early marriage, or sending family members into exploitative work.

• Social tension: Competition for limited aid, shelter, or informal trade opportunities can create conflicts among IDPs, further undermining communal trust.

• Loss of dignity: Reliance on charity and exposure to exploitation diminishes self-esteem, particularly for former business owners, farmers, and skilled artisans.

Psychological strain compounds economic precarity, reducing the capacity for recovery even when security improves.

7. Coping Mechanisms and Community Resilience

Despite harsh conditions, IDPs demonstrate remarkable resilience:

• Mutual support networks: Families, neighbors, and ethnic or faith-based groups provide sharing mechanisms for food, labor, and shelter.

• Camp-based associations: Women’s cooperatives, youth groups, and trade circles organize communal resources and create small economies.

• Skill-sharing and mentorship: Artisans and traders teach their craft to younger IDPs, preserving knowledge and fostering hope for future economic activity.

• Advocacy: IDP committees liaise with NGOs, local authorities, and international agencies to advocate for fair aid distribution, protection, and resources.

These mechanisms reflect a strong survival ethic, even under extreme adversity.

8. Policy and Structural Recommendations

To reduce exploitation and improve survival outcomes for displaced farmers, traders, and artisans, several measures are critical:

1. Transparent aid distribution: Strengthen accountability in humanitarian programs, reducing diversion by corrupt actors.

2. Economic empowerment programs: Provide seed funding, microcredit, and materials for small-scale farming, trade, and craft initiatives.

3. Market integration: Facilitate access to regional markets through secure transport and trade corridors for camp-based producers.

4. Psychosocial support: Incorporate counseling, trauma therapy, and community-building activities into camp services.

5. Legal protection: Ensure displaced persons have access to legal recourse against exploitation, extortion, or arbitrary seizure of aid.

6. Infrastructure and security: Improve sanitation, shelter, and security in camps to reduce vulnerability to criminal networks.

Such measures restore dignity, build resilience, and reduce the capacity of opportunistic actors to profit from human suffering.

9. Resilience Amid Exploitation

Displaced farmers, traders, and artisans in Nigerian IDP camps navigate precarious survival landscapes, relying on ingenuity, social networks, and sheer determination. Yet, while they endure the loss of homes, land, and livelihoods, corruption, profiteering, and criminality often turn their suffering into an economic opportunity for others.

The story of displacement is not just one of vulnerability — it is also one of resilience. IDPs create micro-economies, preserve skills, and maintain social cohesion even under extreme duress. Protecting these populations requires transparent aid systems, security, economic empowerment, and psychosocial support. Only by doing so can Nigeria transform the human tragedy of displacement into an opportunity for recovery, dignity, and sustainable community development.

Ubuntu reminds us: “I am because we are.” To honor the humanity of displaced populations, society must ensure that their suffering does not become someone else’s profit, but a shared responsibility to rebuild lives, livelihoods, and communities.