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Tag: FAO

  • Number of people facing food challenges dropped in North East – FAO

    Number of people facing food challenges dropped in North East – FAO

    The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday the number of people facing facing food insecurity in the North East has dropped from 5.2 million to 2.6 million.

    The figure, according to FAO, was for June to August 2017 and October to December 2017.

    The Deputy Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Nourou Macki-Tall, who spoke at Katarko, Gujba local government area of Yobe State during the FAO 2017-2018 dry season program, said the drop in the figure was due to the improved security in the region among other factors.

    He said: “This improvement was due to improved security conditions which allowed for farming activities in the locations that were previously not safe and an upturn in market and trade activities, the delivery of food aid and livelihood support to almost three million people, and favourable climatic conditions for farming, thanks to the continued efforts of the government, national and International agencies in the Northeast.”

     

  • FAO expresses satisfaction with food security in North East

    FAO expresses satisfaction with food security in North East

    The Food and Agricultural Organisation ( FAO ), on Tuesday, said the threat to food insecurity in North Eastern Nigeria, had reduced due to improved security and increased agricultural activities in returnee communities.

    Mr Suffyan Koroma, the FAO Country Representative in Nigeria, made this disclosure on in Katarko, Yobe, at the official distribution of agricultural inputs to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    According to him, the gesture is to support no fewer than 26,000 households engaged in irrigation farming.

    Suffyan, who was represented by the FAO Deputy Country Representative, Mr Nourou Makital, said “there is positive news about food security in the North east”.

    He said the number of people estimated to be facing food insecurity had reduced from 5.2 million in July to 2.6 million in December”.

    FAO in collaboration with Maigoje Foundation, began the distribution of assorted seeds, fertilizer, water pumps, small ruminants and bulls to vulnerable persons for irrigation farming.

    Read also: Food and water poisoning: How to tame the widespread killers

    The country representative said the irrigation farming and livestock support programme was to provide the beneficiaries with durable means of livelihood.

    Gov. Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe, said the irrigation support programme was in line with his government’s policy on irrigation farming.

    Gaidam who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Mustapha Gajerima, said his administration had developed four irrigation sites to promote dry season farming.

    “The significance of dry season farming was in tandem with our administration’s drive to harness the irrigation potential at Mugura, Boloram, Nguru and Jumbam.

    “Our overall target is to develop about 1,000 hectares of land for irrigation farming before the end of 2018,’’ Gaidam said.

    Dr Usman Abba, the Executive Director, Maigoje Foundation, FAO implementation partners in Yobe, said a thorough assessment was conducted to ensure that only eligible persons benefited from the programme.

    He said the foundation had fashioned out effective monitoring strategy for the materials to be used for the intended purpose of providing sustainable means of livelihood to the beneficiaries.

    NAN

  • FAO tasks Fed Govt to increase effort on food security, nutrition

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Mr. Suffyan Koroma has advised the Federal Government to increase its efforts on sufficient food production and addressing food nutrition challenges in the country.

    Koroma made the call at the stakeholders meeting on presentation of results of Cadre Harmonise (CH) Analysis on Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Nigeria.

    The new report was unveiled before Commissioners for Health and Agriculture from 17 States across the country, including the Federal Capital territory (FCT), yesterday in Abuja.

    The states are Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Adamawa, Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Benue, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe and Plateau.

    Other stakeholders such as local and international Non-Governmental Organisations were as well present at the discussion which preceded official unveiling of the document.

    Koroma, who was represented by David Patrick, said efforts were ongoing to assist the vulnerable states with supports from other development partners such as Action Against Hunger, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Food Programme (WFP) among others.

    The CH report, earlier this year stated that 7 million people in the 16 northern states were severely vulnerable to hunger if quick actions were not taken.

    “The essence of this meeting is to gather all stakeholders to discuss on the cadre harmonise report and information at their disposal on food and nutrition. Outcome of the CH will later be communicated to headquarters of various agencies to needed programmes and intervention.

    “There is need for the government to increase efforts on addressing food security and nutrition. There is also need to build capacity of all stakeholders and strengthen food security and nutrition in the country,” he said.

    Koroma further described the CH as a food security tool adopted by the federal government to analysis food and nutrition insecurity findings in the country.

    Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Bukar Hassan, said the analysis became imperative in order to determine reliability of data in the 16 States before final presentation to the public.

    According to him, the result will assist government in planning effectively, especially in the area of policy formulations targeted to assist poor rural households in the country.

    “It is a tool to analyse food security and poverty in the country,” he added.

    Hassan, who was represented by Director of Planning, Policy and Coordination, Alhaji Auwal Maidabinu reassured support of the federal government to jointly realizing food security in Nigeria.

    The Country Director, World Food Programme, Martha Karlard, described the exercise as impressive stressing that it immensely helped in the study of about 22, 000 households in the north east.

    She lauded the federal government and States for timely delivery of food items to the victims of insecurity in the region.

  • 815m people hungry globally – UN

    815m people hungry globally – UN

    A United Nations report has shown that the number of people  in dire need of food globally  increased to 815 million in 2016 from 777 million in 2015.

    According to The State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World, global hunger numbers fell steadily from 926 million in 2005 to 795 million in 2010, and broadly stabilised until last year’s “worrisome” jump.

    In terms of percentages, the share of the global population facing chronic food shortages has fallen from just under 15 per cent in 2000 to 10.6 per cent in 2015.

    The food shortage has increased to 11 per cent in 2016.

    UN agencies blamed “violent conflicts and climate-related shocks” such as the El Nino weather phenomenon for “sharply” worsening food security in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, South-Eastern Asia and Western Asia.

    South Sudan, where a famine was declared in early 2017, and north-east Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, which have been classified as high risk of famine, were singled out as areas of particular concern.

    Friday’s report was a joint effort from UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

    They said it is “not yet clear” whether the increase in hunger rates is a blip or the beginning of a new trend, but it anyway “poses a significant challenge for international commitments to end hunger by 2030.”

    In absolute numbers, most of the world’s hungry people -520 million, live in Asia.

    But in relative terms, the hunger crisis is worse in Africa, where 20 per cent of the population – 243 million people, is affected. This rises to 33.9 per cent in Eastern Africa.

    “Among children under 5; 155 million are too short for their age, 52 million are too skinny for their age, and 41 million are overweight,” the report added.

    NAN

  • Conference will address farmers/herdsmen clashes – Osinbajo

    Conference will address farmers/herdsmen clashes – Osinbajo

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said the on going National Conference on livestock will address persistent clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the country.

    Osinbajo disclosed this yesterday during the livestock stakeholders conference organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and other stakeholders in Abuja.

    He said the conference was a deliberate plan to converge all key stakeholders in the livestock industry in order to provide a lasting solution to several challenges confronting the industry.

    Osinbajo said the effort will eventually contribute to national security stressing that the Federal Government has established agrorangers to protect ranches.

    The Vice President noted that about 3000 of the rangers are currently undergoing training in order to discharge the duty effectively.

    According to him, the agrorangers will be strongly armed to protect ranches across the country.

    Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the service will be rendered free while the rangers will be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Interior.

    He explained that if the strategy works in addition to stakeholder reccomendations from the national confeence, it will be recommended to other neighbouring north African countries to adopt.

    The VP expressed concerns that the nation’s national security is already threatened by the incessant crisis between the farmers and herdsmen.

    Describing the conference as timely, he said implementing the recommendations would help promote the economy and create jobs for the unemployed.

    “In the face of expanding human population, food production and demand have increased in a commensurate manner. The pressure on land is great. There is a decline in soil fertility and farm holdings are small while grazing lands are being degraded due to increasing livestock activities, poor management, effects of climate change and increased conversion to farmlands due to high population of humans.

    “We have heard so many have lost money, 300 cows rustled, 200 cows taken. We have now put together a new security group called agrorangers. This group is being trained by the ministry of interior. They are heavily armed. 3000 of them are heavily trained.

    “If you have a ranch or big agricultural project, approach us, we will post them to you at no cost. They will protect your investment,” Osinbajo said.

    The Vice President assured the farmers and pastoralist of providing an insurance cover to protect their investments.

    The Minister of Agriculture, in his personal remark lamented over lack of attention on the livestock industry by successive administrations.

    He said the pastoralist have been marginalised with their grazing routes and reserves already taken over while attention was mainly on crops.

    Ogbeh, who pleaded supports of the conference participants disclosed that about 13 States have provided 5, 000 hectares of land for grazing reserves.

    He said prior to this time, cattle don’t roam but because of need for survival they had to scout for pastures, adding that beyond cows reared by herdsmen in the country, there are foreigners who come into the country from Chad, Niger, Senegal in search for grass.

    Senate Committee Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu in his remark called for holistic approach to addressing the situation.

    He said the livestock sector has suffered reject from the government stressing that the roles of pastoral farmers are significant to contributing to nutritional need in the country.

    According to him, grazing reserves and cattle routes were in the government Gazette before he was born.

    “We have to make-up our mind on what to do to achieve transformation in the livestock industry,” he added.

  • FAO’s confab on livestock coming

    As part of the efforts to finding lasting solution to the farmer/herdsmen crisis in the country, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has proposed to convene a national conference on livestock development in Nigeria.

    The conference, according to FAO’s new Country Representative for Nigeria, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, will help the country to improve the utilisation of grazing reserve and also commercialised stock production.

    Koroma spoke in Abuja yesterday when he submitted his credentials to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.

    The outcome of the conference,  he assured will provide lasting solutions to the problems of grazing in the country.

    “Our support to improve the utilisation of grazing reserves and stock routes to mitigate conflicts and promote commercialised stock production has led to calls for a national conference on livestock development, which is expected to come up with comprehensive recommendation to address all issues. This will happen sometime this month,” Koroma said.

    According to him, FAO has recorded significant impact in the implementation of its country programme for Nigeria in five broad priority areas.

  • Boko Haram: FAO give farming imputs to over 141,000 IDPs

    Boko Haram: FAO give farming imputs to over 141,000 IDPs

    Over 141,000 IDPs in the North east have been assisted by the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO), of the United Nations with agricultural farming inputs for the 2017 farming season.

    The Acting Country Representative of FAO,   Mr Nourou Macki-tall, disclosed this  at the flagging off of presentation of  agricultural inputs to 1,500 IDPs at Shagari lowcost area in Maiduguri on Friday.

    Macki-Tall Said that the exercise was conducted in partnership with World Food Program (WFP), Social Welfare Network Initiative and the Borno state ministry of Agriculture.

    According to him,  67,000 benefiting  farmers were selected  from Borno, 41,000 in Yobe and 32,000 beneficiaries from Adamawa.

    He announced  that the FAO had so far earmark  about $17.5 million which would be ploughed  into various agricultural programs, adding that the program is   targeting  about 1.1 million farming populations in the Northeast of Nigeria.

    his words: “We are targeting farming communities who lost their means of livelihood in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

    “Farming was the basic means of livelihood for most of them and they have not been able to farm for quite some time.

    “What we have here today is the symbolic presentation “Provision of rainy season agricultural inputs distribution to crises effected population in Borno state.

    “In March 2017, FAO and federal Ministry of Agriculture conducted the cadre harmonise vulnerability analysis that estimated around 5.2 million people will face high levels of food insecurity in the Northeast

    “With the recovery of hitherto vactaed lands and restoration of relative peace in some librated communities, the need for the people to get back their lives together cannot be over emphasied.

    “Lack of agricultural inputs is the major constraints for many farmers particularly the IDPs.

    “FAO’s  objective was to contribute to the improvement of food security in the northeast of Nigeria.

    “The 1,500 beneficiaries drawn from Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Jere, would received various varieties of seeds like Cowpea, cereal, Millet seeds, Shourghum, maize seeds and fertilizers among others

    “Other beneficiaries in Jere council were about 500 beneficiaries mostly women, were targeted would receive Okro seeds, Amarantus, sorrel, Roselle seeds and fertilizers,” he explained.

    In his remarks,  Mr Olisa Eloka, the Country Director of Social Welfare Initiative, disclosed that  900 farmers also benefitted from Boko Haram librated towns   like Pulka, Gwoza and Izge council.

    he added that  for Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, about 1,100 farmers benefitted from Shagari and Musari A and B, while in Jere council 400 mostly women, benefitted.

    ” In some communities we focused on households Predominantly headed by women IDPs. We have been working with the military to create more farming zones.

    “In Gwoza for example, military helped us to clear massive lands for our farmers. In Izga, the army had cleared more than 15 kilometers of farmlands for this year’s raining season farming,” said Eloka.

    The Nation findings reveal that more than close to one million farmers abandoned their farmlands and farming in the wake of the Boko Haram crisis in the North eastern parts of Nigeria, just as over 5000 of them have now returned to their liberated  communities and resumed their farming activities.

     

  • 7.1 million threatened by food insecurity, says FAO

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) observes that no fewer than 7.1 million persons are threatened by food insecurity in the conflict-affected communities across the north eastern region of the country.

    Subsequent to this report, the World Bank classified the region as one of the poorest places in the world since the emergence of Boko Haram insurgency in the region.

    The activities of the insurgents have drastically affected the socio-economic activities of more than 80 per cent of the population in the region who are farmers on the bank of Lake Chad Basin.

    Not only this, several attacks by the insurgents in the region have telling effects on the people of the neighbouring Republic of Chad, Republic of Niger and northern part of Cameroon who share ideas on farming methods.

    The north eastern part of the country and the neighbouring communities have repeatedly been the targeted by insurgents with the aim of acquiring resources and forcing the vulnerable populations from their homes.

    This perception of insecurity and the threat of being kidnapped have, therefore, prevented farmers from fully engaging in agricultural activities.

    Expressing concern about the extent of the damage in the region, FAO describes the Lake Chad Basin crisis as one of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with 2.3 million persons displaced, 11 million persons in dire need of assistance, while 515,000 children suffer malnutrition.

    “This has resulted in loss of lives, destruction of infrastructure, disruption of trade and communications and potentially destabilising inter-community relations,’’ the organisation observes.

    With the situation, a food security assessment carried out in November 2016 by the Cadre Harmonise and the Emergency Food Security Assessment in June 2016 indicated that the crisis contributed immensely to the soaring food insecurity in the region.

    To check the trend, FAO unveiled a three-year strategy to mitigate the impact of the crisis and boost food security in the conflict-affected communities.

    Mr Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of the organisation during his visit to Maiduguri, said it was significant to restore agricultural production and all means of peoples’ livelihood in the region to enable them to come back to their homes.

    He said the organisation established farms in the crisis affected areas in 2014 to help some internally displaced and returnees’ persons to revive their livelihoods.

    He also said the organisation would provide farm inputs ranging from seeds to fertilisers to the internally displaced farmers in the region.

    The director-general, therefore, solicited more support from donor agencies and countries to assist in the revitalisation of the region.

    He said the organisation had asked for 62 million dollars from the United Nations to aid the revival of the region but it got only 10 million dollars.

    “It is not enough to provide the food assistance; we need to allow this people that are basically farmers, fisher men and livestock farmers to produce food.

    “We are only one or two months ahead of farming season. We need to start preparing the lands now. The time to act is now.

    “We cannot leave the issue of agriculture to be the next step; it should be the first step as we provide food assistance,’’ he said.

    Similarly, Mr Bukar Tijani, FAO’s Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, expressed regret that some livestock in the region had been lost due to crisis.

    He said the organisation would also support women and other rural dwellers by providing small ruminants and poultry animals.

    Mr Dominique Burgeon, the Director, Emergencies and Rehabilitation Division of the organisation, said 10 million dollars would be required within three weeks to assist no fewer than 248,000 household farmers in the region.

    He said the response was necessary to provide agricultural inputs for the farmers in the forthcoming planting season.

    Expressing readiness for aggressive farming to ensure food security, some internally displaced farmers at the FAO’s supported farm in Jere Local Government Area of Borno, appealed for more support from the organisation.

    Mr Ali Kawu, the Chairman, Jere Fadama Farmers Association, said facilities such as boreholes, start-up capital, maintenance funds for machines, fertiliser, pesticides and different varieties of improved seeds, among others, would boost agriculture in the area.

    According to him, if farmers are provided with the inputs, food production would improve and the means of their livelihoods lost during the Boko Haram crisis would be revived.

    Mr Yamani Balayaminu, a tomato farmer in one of the FAO farms, nonetheless, said farming had developed to a profitable business following reduction in insurgents’ attacks.

    He said he resumed farming six months ago after three years without farming because of the Boko Haram insurgency in the area.

    “We want more support from the FAO because we are many and we are also assisting other farmers who fled from their communities as a result of the Boko Haram attacks.

    “We want a situation where we will be adequately supported to accommodate all other farmers,’’ he said.

    Assessing the role of FAO in the region, Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno observed that the organisation’s three-year response programme would bring peace to the region apart from food security.

    “The direct response by the FAO is a welcome development because once we create jobs, engage the youth, insurgency will stop,’’ he said.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh warned that lack of attention to rural developments could destroy Africa.

    Commending the FAO for its efforts towards ensuring food security, Ogbeh said:  “if we enrich the rural areas through agriculture and agro-industries, we can enjoy food and security; let every one of us make an investment in agriculture.’’

    • Okoye is of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
  • 50,000 people facing famine in northeast – FAO

    50,000 people facing famine in northeast – FAO

    • ‎As UN receives $984m support for Nigeria, three others
    About 50, 000 people in the north east are currently grappling with food shortage in the country, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned.
    According to FAO Situation Report for the month of April 2017 published on the official twitter handle of FAO newsroom, about 6.9 million people will suffer starvation in Nigeria and three other African countries between June and August this year if an urgent step is not taken.
    Other high prone countries included are Cameroun, Chad and Niger.
    However, the United Nations organisation disclosed that about $73.6 million would be urgently needed for this year implementation of FAO humanitarian strategy.
    The report stated that aside from the famine, ‎about 500, 000 children in the region are currently suffering from malnourishment.
    Meanwhile, ‎the FAO Newsroom according to a tweet by @UNGeneva, a retweet by the FAO Newsroom, acknowledged that;

    The United Nations Humanitarian Office Spokespersons, Jens Laerke added that about $984 million has been received out of $4.4 million targeted to support Nigeria and three other nations against malnutrition.
    The countries are Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.
    “What we call the special call for funding for the four countries where we either have famine conditions in South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia or we are on the brink of famine.
    “You will recall by the end of March, the Secretary General urged the international donor community to provide $4.4 billion to that. We have update as of today tha we have received a total of $984 million against the $4.4 billion. Of course the effort to raise more funds continue,” Laerke said.
    The Director-General of the FAO José Graziano da Silva recently visited the hunger-threatened northeastern Nigeria, and called for urgent increase in humanitarian assistance.
    Da Silva also stated that restoring agriculture-based livelihoods was key to recovery and peace efforts in Lake Chad Basin region.
    “If we miss the coming planting season, there will be no substantial harvests until 2018. Failure to restore food production now will lead to the worsening of widespread and severe hunger and prolonged dependency on external assistance further into the future,” Graziano da Silva said.
    He emphasised that the time for all to act is now, stressing that insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin – which incorporates parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and northeastern Nigeria – has resulted in the largest humanitarian crisis in Africa.
  • FAO-supported farmers hope for good harvest

    FAO-supported farmers hope for good harvest

    Farmers supported by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Northeast are looking forward to good harvest, going by the quantity and quality of crops they have gathered so far from their fields.

    A monitoring and evaluation officer at Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP), the FAO implementing partner in Borno State, Salisu Bukar Mohammed Ngulde, said: “Most of the crops are grown by women who make up 40 per cent of the project”.

    They have already started harvesting their crops from the dry season interventions and have food for their families for some time to come while they sell part of their produce to make some money. They are now able to get income, save feeding costs and have surplus at home to take care of other basic needs for a few months. The FAO is collaborating with the governments of Belgium, Ireland and Japan to support these farmers.

    He described the intervention as very successful, hoping that more funds would be made available to take care of the larger number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, female-headed households, youths and the host community, who are in dire need of support.

    Abba Mursi, one of the beneficiaries of the interventions, recounted how he fled his community in Bama after an attack two and half years ago and then took refuge in Gongulong Bulamari village in the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in Jere Local Government Area, some 75  kilometres away from Bama. “I fled from Bama on foot and left everything behind, everything,” he said.

    Mursi’s desire of returning to productive life was nurtured by the FAO. His carrot plot is doing well, less than three months after he received seedlings and fertilizers from the FAO. “I got assistance of assorted seeds and fertilizer from the FAO. I started farming with the seeds when they were distributed in January 2017. It is from the farm that I have harvested these fresh carrots you see. The fertilizer and seed helped me to carry out farming in the dry season. My group is also thankful for the borehole provided by the FAO.” He is grateful to the Gongulong Bulamari people for accepting him and giving him access to a farmland where he hopes to eke out a living.

    Mele Muktar has a similar story. Originally from Koshabe, in Mafa Local Government Area, over 50 kilometers away, he settled in Gongulong about two years ago.

    He has only been on the FAO-supported farm for one month. His seedling beds are doing well. He hopes to transfer them to the main site in days to come and is already looking to a good harvest. “What I received was a complete package from the FAO. We get food support from a number of organisations, but this agricultural assistance means everything to me,” he said.

    As part of its dry season interventions in support to IDPs, returnees and vulnerable host families in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the FAO provided farmers with capacity-building and skills, vegetable seeds, fertilizers and irrigation support for the dry season.

    Mursi and Muktar are some of the farmers, who embraced the project with great enthusiasm and less than two months into the programme, the enthusiasm has started paying off. The farmers, mostly youths and women, are already looking to a good harvest. The early signs of a potentially good harvest are evident by the crisps and fresh carrots, huge cabbages and other vegetables being gathered from the fields.

    Vegetable seedlings covering carrot, okra, amaranths, sorrel/roselle, onions, tomatoes, pepper, watermelon and cabbage were given to each farmer in a master kit for food security, nutrition and livelihoods as well as incomes.

    “The FAO with partners’ support will provide the greatly desired livelihoods to IDPs, returnees and host communities where men, and especially women and youth, will be provided with food security, nutrition and livelihoods for both the dry and rainy seasons in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe on a sustainable basis to recovery from many years of hardship.”