Nigerian farmer Enoch Fater has barely slept in the last few days after water levels started rising at his paddy rice farm and in a major river nearby, pointing to impending floods in Benue state, a major food producer in the central belt.

The warning comes as Nigeria is already grappling with severe floods in northeastern Borno state where a dam burst its walls after heavy rains that have also caused floods in Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Niger - all part of Africa's Sahel region that usually receives little rain.

STORY: For Alagoa Morris, the trauma of repeated flooding is all too familiar. He says his home and office in southern Nigeria's Bayelsa state gets hit by floods every rainy season.The consequences: property loss and weeks of homelessness for his family.