United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has said women and girls, mostly in rural areas, face the brunt of climate crisis that worsens pre-existing inequalities, which jeopardises their food security.
WFP, which said this in its International Women’s Day message, said women and girls often lack access to disaster information, financial services and participation in community decision-making and resource allocation.
Such inequalities, the UN body said, undermine the ability of women to prepare for, cope with and recover from climate shocks and stresses.
WFP’s Assistant Executive Director Valerie Guarnieri said women were the bedrock of food security and yet were hardest hit by climate shocks and food insecurity.
According to her, a sustainable future is only possible when women and girls have what they need to adapt to the changing climate.
She said: “In Nigeria, WFP worked with UN Women and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to implement a resilience development and livelihoods project funded by European Union (EU).
“The project supported some 140,000 conflict-affected households in Borno State, including over 53,000 female-headed households, with the skills and input to restart their agriculture-based livelihoods activities and enhance food security.
“The key aims of the initiative are to boost food security and empower the benefiting households with various input to restart agricultural production in the state.
Under the project, WFP provided cash transfers to the supported households to safeguard investments in agriculture and sustain the food consumption levels of families. Some of the cash was provided through bank accounts, thereby contributing to financial inclusion among vulnerable populations.
“Equally, the fresh food vouchers component of the project helped to link local farmers to the consumers, who are vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity.
“In a year when humanitarian needs are on an upward trend and aid agencies are stretched thin, supporting communities vulnerable to the harsh realities of the climate crisis is the need of the hour, she said.