Watch: Food’s running out in Nigeria’s refugee settlements

Editor's note: This article is part of a GlobalPost in-depth series on Boko Haram. See also Boko Haram: 'They burned our houses, they burned our food'; It takes 'boko' to fight Boko Haram; and These are the real victims of Boko Haram.

YOLA, Nigeria — In northern Nigeria, Boko Haram insurgents forced 1.5 million people from their lands and their livelihoods.

Nearly 5,000 of the survivors have been given land to farm in Bole village, in Yola, with assistance from the local Adamawa Peace Initiative. But that's a drop in the bucket compared to the need: some 300,000 are estimated to have sought refuge in Yola alone.

"We thought we had it solved with 5,000, but then many many many thousands more began coming," says Margee Ensign, president of the American University of Nigeria.

"It's unlikely we can continue to feed people for another year."

In Bole, those who now have some land to work are doing their best to get by.

"Food is everything," says Lediya Ujulu, who's maintaining a plot here. "If there's food, there's life."

More from GlobalPost: When can we go home? Surviving Boko Haram (VIDEO)

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.