The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the Government of Japan, has expanded its response to revitalising the worsening food insecurity and malnutrition situation of vulnerable populations in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria.
This initiative aligns itself with the sustainable development goals on food security and nutrition which are also in line with the second pillar of the Yokohoma Declaration of 2019 deepening a sustainable and resilient society.
Priority will therefore be placed on boosting local production of nutritious food among Internally Disposed Persons (IDPs), host communities and returnees. The initiative will also support the production and distribution of energy-saving stoves to reduce the frequency of fetching firewood in bushes and associated risks to women and to the environment in general.
The now more than decade-long insurgency plus the lingering impacts of covid-19 and the economic shocks has intensively reduced the access of farmers to agricultural livelihood opportunities upon which more than 80 per cent of the population relies as a primary source of food and household income.
According to the FAO Representative in Nigeria and to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Mr Fred Kafeero, the result of the latest cadre harmonise analysis led by the Government of Nigeria indicates worrisome food consumption deficiencies and malnutrition levels risking severe food and nutrition insecurity if immediate actions are not taken.
The intervention, therefore, targets enhanced availability and access to fresh and nutritious foods, and energy for cooking to improve the food security and nutrition situation and protection of target vulnerable households.
To this extent, 49,000 people, are to be reached by the project.” Mr Al Hassan Cisse, the Head of FAO Sub Office for the Northeast said.
The funds from Japan will contribute to FAO’s overall plan and funding requirements as contained
in the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which cuts across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states with a combination of interventions to meet the immediate food and nutritional needs of the
most vulnerable beneficiaries as well as support the building of resilient livelihoods.
Accordingly, the initiative targets to support the anticipated beneficiaries at the peak of the lean
seasons to enable them to engage in their farm activities without disruptions that come with the
search for food and, fuel and energy for food preparation.
FAO’s sustained intervention in the northeast of Nigeria has remained critical in restoring the
livelihoods of the conflict-affected populations and in this context is hinged on the objective of
improving food security, and nutritional status among vulnerable conflict and pandemic affected
households such as IDPs, returnees, women and girls in Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe states.
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