The Nation Newspaper

Tag: WFP

  • IITA and WFP collaborate to achieve hunger-free world

    THE International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and the World Food Programme (WFP)  are  partnering  to provide food and nutrition assistance to alleviate the nation’s humanitarian crisis.

    IITA Deputy Director-General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell, disclosed this when a delegation from WFP  visited IITA to strengthen existing collaboration and synergise ways to improve and sustain the livelihoods of people in the priority states benefiting from the Nigeria Zero Hunger Forum (NZHF). The NZHF is chaired by  former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    The three-member team, led by WFP Country Director, Myrta Kaulard, accompanied by Safety Nets and Livelihoods Officer, Akeem Ajibola and Vulnerability Assessment and Mapping Officer, Tunji Sonoiki, was received by  Dashiell and Director, Development and Delivery Office, Alfred Dixon.

    Dashiell expressed his delight on how the partnership would support and elevate the standard of living of people in the targeted states: Benue, Borno, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Ogun, and Sokoto. He said: “The partnership between IITA and WFP is essential to improve food security through the promotion of sustainable agriculture. It also brings us closer to a zero-hunger world, rapid economic growth, and increased agricultural productivity.”

    Dashiell further prais   ed WFP work in Nigeria and the collaboration between the two institutions. “As the NZHF pledges to end hidden hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and sustainable agriculture, I am optimistic that the mutual partnership between IITA and WFP would contribute to a greater attainment of our mission, which is to help the most vulnerable people to get out of poverty and malnutrition and move into prosperity and good health,” he said.

    Stating the purpose of their visit, Kaulard applauded IITA for its innovative research and delivery that have lifted millions of farmers out of poverty and emphasised the need to put in more effort as a team to achieve a common goal. “Specifically, we came to discuss and draw a road map on how WFP could support IITA in its fight for zero hunger in Nigeria and beyond. This is also vital as the WFP in Nigeria is faced with the incredible challenge of reducing food importation and ensuring special access to nutrition, especially for children and pregnant women,” she said.

    The goals of the NZHF not only include the elimination of hunger among Nigerians, but improvement in their standard of living through an implementable agenda and network of agricultural programmes and activities. “Working substantially together with an institution like IITA to succeed in our target of ending hunger and poverty across the entire country is fundamental and key to ensuring a better livelihood and creating an enabling environment for all,” Kaulard said.

    The team’s visit and collaboration with IITA would further consolidate the gains achieved by the NZHF in Nigeria since it started in 2017.

  • WFP distributes milling machines to 5,000 displaced families

    No fewer than 5,000 displaced families in Borno State will receive 766 milling machines courtesy of The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to ease problems associated with processing grains.

    12 communities in selected local government areas, including Bama, Damboa, Dikwa, Gwoza, Jere, Mafa, Monguno and Konduga will benefit from the scheme.

    A statement by WFP’s Communication Associate, Adedeji Ademigbuji, on Wednesday explained: “By processing grains such as sorghum and millet for others as well as for their own food needs, the families will also generate some income to maintain the milling machines, each of which comes with a toolbox.

    “The milling machines also save time and energy for the users, especially for vulnerable women and girls who face a lot of difficulties in accessing milling services in the conflict-affected communities in the state.”

    It added the distribution of the machines will focus on the most vulnerable groups in the state, especially women and girls, to reduce the problems they face in manual milling of their food grains.

    They will also receive training in the management of the machines.

    “We recognised that some families were selling part of the food assistance they received to pay for milling services, or spending so much time and energy to mill the grains using traditional methods.

    “With these machines, they will now be able to save time and energy; conserve food, and also generate some money to maintain the machines,” WFP Country Director in Nigeria Myrta Kaulard, stated.

    WFP cooperating partners such as Christian AID, Danish Refugees Council, CARE, International Medical Corps, INTERSOS, train the recipients on record keeping, financial management and maintenance of machines.

    The milling machines initiative was made possible by the generous contributions to WFP’s food assistance activities in northeast Nigeria this year by Canada, European Commission (ECHO), Finland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (DFID), the United States (USAID) and private donors.

    From January to October 2018, WFP provided food or cash assistance to an average of 1.1 million people every month affected by the conflict in northeast Nigeria.

     

  • Northeast crisis: WFP provides lifeline to new arrivals in Bama Camp

    While food security across conflict-affected areas of Nigeria’s northeast has improved over the past year, the World Food Programme (WFP) remains focused on meeting the urgent needs of the steady flow of newly displaced people. Many arrive from areas that remain inaccessible to humanitarian organisations, writes Patrick Fuller

    For humanitarian workers, the quickest way in to the town of Bama, in Nigeria’s northeast state of Borno, is by the helicopter service operated by the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). As the 30-minute helicopter flight from Maiduguri descends, the recent trauma suffered by this town becomes apparent. A victim of the conflict in northeast Nigeria, Bama is littered with the shells of burnt-out homes. A sprinkling of new roofs dot the town—a marker of some rebuilding—but many streets remain derelict and abandoned.

    Situated on the trans-Africa trading route close to Cameroon, Bama was once a thriving market town. Its population numbered 270,000 people. But in 2014, it was occupied by a non-state armed group. When the Nigerian army retook the town six months later, most of the population had fled and almost 85% of the buildings were left damaged or destroyed by the escaping fighters.

    The grounds of a former government boarding school now serve as a temporary camp for 25,000 displaced people. Most of the new arrivals here left their villages due to insecurity triggered by military operations against non-state armed groups. In June alone, 3,000 people arrived here. Some had been living in small villages deep in the bush; others had returned from Cameroon. With limited freedom of movement and scarce opportunities to make a living, the camp’s growing population remains heavily dependent on emergency food aid WFP provides.

    The number of people facing acute food insecurity in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe—the three conflict-affected states of northeast Nigeria—has significantly dropped from over 5 million to 3 million people over the past year. But the situation of thousands of freshly displaced people arriving in frontline towns such as Bama, remains precarious. Since the end of October of 2017, there have been an estimated 130,000 new arrivals. Sometimes, 20,000 people will arrive in a single month.

    The school hall in the camp now serves as a warehouse and distribution point for food trucked in by WFP. Bulis Ntasiri, Food Security Officer with WFP’s implementing partner, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), is preparing food for a group of about 50 women who have just arrived with their children. Each family receives a monthly ration of cereals, pulses, salt and vegetable oil. Children under five, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, also receive extra nutrition in the form of super-cereal that has been fortified with vitamins and minerals.

    Fatima is among them. Her clothes are worn and dirty, and her 4-year-old son Mohammed lies limp in her lap. Weakened by hunger, his skeletal frame is covered in sores.

    Fatima’s story is typical of the experience of many of the women here. In 2013, her husband, a fighter with a non-state armed group, abducted her and her two-year-old daughter under false pretenses. He took them to a village in the remote Sambisa forest, on the border of Cameroon. She remained a captive for five years, giving birth to two more children. Eventually, she managed to escape with the help of another woman on the pretext that they needed to go to a neighbouring village to find food for her sick daughter. They walked for three days before reaching Bama.

    After her harrowing ordeal, Fatima managed to escape. She now receives food from WFP. Here she is being registered by a field officer from the Danish Refugee Council.

    “We only travelled at night,” explains Fatima. “The little food we had, I gave to the children to stop them from crying and attracting attention. If my husband had found us, he would have taken me back and given me away.”

    Gently squeezing a sachet of Plumpy’Sup, Bulis Ntasiri feeds small mouthfuls to Mohammed to boost his energy levels. This highly nutritious peanut based paste is fortified with vitamins and proteins and is distributed by WFP to prevent or treat children with moderate malnutrition.

    Many new arrivals in the camp, particularly the young, are malnourished. This is the lean season, when the year’s food reserves are depleted. Those in the worst condition tend to come from villages where it is unsafe for humanitarian organizations to operate and food is scarce. Currently, some 800,000 people in these remote areas are thought to be cut off from any aid assistance.

    Fatima is relieved that her ordeal is over and her children are safe. Although she has food, Fatima will now need to find someone who is willing to share their cooking pot so that she can cook her children a meal. Once she has recovered her strength, she plans on tracking down her mother and brother who live in Maiduguri.

    “We did not have an address but I remember what my neighbourhood looks like,” says Fatima. “I haven’t spoken to my mother since I was taken five years ago. She doesn’t know if I’m alive or dead.”

    WFP recognizes the support of donors for its food assistance activities in northeast Nigeria. Canada, European Commission (ECHO), Finland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (DFID), the United States (USAID), and private donors have contributed to WFP Nigeria this year.

    To continue its emergency operation in northeast Nigeria, WFP urgently requires US$ 100 million to provide emergency food assistance, prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women, support livelihoods and retain flexibility to respond to further displacement through March 2019.

    • Fuller is the Ag. Head of Communications of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Nigeria
  • ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    Three UN agencies on Monday warned that seven million people in South Sudan, almost two-thirds of the population, could become severely food insecure in the coming months without sustained humanitarian assistance and access.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) in a statement said, if this happens, this will be the highest ever number of food insecure people in South Sudan.

    The period of greatest risk will be the lean season, between May and July.

    Particularly at risk are 155,000 people, including 29,000 children, who could suffer from the most extreme levels of hunger.

    In January, 5.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, were already struggling to find enough food each day and were in “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity (IPC Phases three and four), according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.

    This represents a 40 per cent increase in the number of severely food insecure people compared to January 2017.

    The report comes one year after famine was declared in parts of South Sudan in February 2017.

    Improved access and a massive humanitarian response succeeded in containing and averting famine later last year.

    In spite of this, the agencies said, the  food insecurity outlook has never been so dire as it is now.

    The FAO, UNICEF and WFP warned that progress made to prevent people from dying of hunger could be undone, and more people than ever could be pushed into severe hunger and famine-like conditions during May to July unless assistance and access are maintained.

    “The situation is extremely fragile, and we are close to seeing another famine. The projections are stark.

    “If we ignore them, we’ll be faced with a growing tragedy.

    “If farmers receive support to resume their livelihoods, we will see a rapid improvement in the country’s food security situation due to increased local production,” said Serge Tissot, FAO Representative in South Sudan.

    A growing tragedy that must not be ignored

    Overall hunger levels have risen due to protracted conflict that led to reduced food production and constantly disrupted livelihoods.

    This was further exacerbated by economic collapse, which impacted markets and trade, making them unable to compensate for the decrease in local food production.

    Prolonged dry spells, flooding and continued pest infestation, such as Fall Armyworm, have also had a damaging impact.

    “The situation is deteriorating with each year of conflict as more people lose the little they had.

    “We are alarmed as the lean season when the harvest runs out is expected to start this year much earlier than usual,” said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative and Country Director.

    “Unless we can pre-position assistance rather than mount a more costly response during the rains, more families will struggle to survive.”

    READ ALSO: Let’s focus on agriculture

    In areas like Unity, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Central Equatorial, riddled by reoccurring outbreaks of violent conflict and displacement, the proportion of people suffering from extreme food insecurity ranges from 52 to 62 percent – more than half the states’ combined population.

    The number is expected to keep increasing unless people find the means to receive, produce or buy their own food.

    Conflict and worsening hunger have led to already soaring rates of malnutrition.

    Without assistance, as of May, more than 1.3 million children under five will be at risk of acute malnutrition.

    Malnutrition rates are set to rise once the rainy season starts in April.

    Once this happens, many communities will become isolated and unable to reach medical services.

    The rains will make the country’s dirt roads unusable, and it will become more and more difficult to deliver supplies to medical centres.

    “We are preparing for rates of severe malnutrition among children never before seen in this country,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan.

    “Without an urgent response and access to those most in need, many children will die. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    Of particular concern are the areas around Leer, Mayendit, Longochuk and Renk where children under five face extremely critical levels of malnutrition

    In 2017, FAO, WFP, UNICEF and their partners rolled out their largest ever aid campaign, saving lives and containing famine. In 2017, agency partners conducted more than 135 rapid humanitarian missions to the most hard-to-reach areas, providing life-saving assistance to over 1.8 million people.

    FAO provided five million people, many in difficult-to-reach or conflict-affected areas, with seeds and tools for planting, and fishing kits in 2017.

    FAO has also vaccinated more than 6.1 million livestock to keep animals alive and healthy. This has been vital as most of the population rely on livestock for their survival.

    UNICEF and partners admitted some 208,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in 2017 and plan to reach 215,000 this year.

    Together with WFP, UNICEF took part in 51 rapid response missions in 2017 to reach communities cut off from regular aid assistance.

    The Rapid Response Mechanism will remain a key means of accessing conflict-affected communities in the coming months.

    At the peak of its response this year, WFP aims to reach 4.4 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance.

    WFP is pre-positioning food in areas likely to be cut off during the rainy season, so people will not go hungry.

    WFP plans to pre-position 140,000 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies – 20 percent more than in 2017 – in more than 50 locations across the country.

    NAN

  • How I will spend my $250,000 World Food prize money — Adesina

    How I will spend my $250,000 World Food prize money — Adesina

    A former minister of Agriculture, Mr Akinwumi Adesina is setting up a fund for financing African youths in agriculture.

    The project will be funded with the $250000 money attached to the 2017 World Food Prize (WFP) Laureate award conferred on him in  Des Moines, the USA on Thursday.

    Adesina emerged winner of the global award by the WFP for his dogged determination and practical commitment to boosting agriculture and food supply chain both as minister of agriculture and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

    He commended his staff for the shared passion to feed Africa.

    The former minister expressed gratitude to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for nominating him as the minister.

    Adesina also thanked former President Goodluck Jonathan for giving him the opportunity of his life to serving his country, Nigeria, as a minister and President Muhammadu Buhari for his strong support to achieve the feat.

    He said:“There wouldn’t be any rest for me until Africa feeds itself and for that, we need the youth.

    “And so even though I don’t have the cash in my hand, I hereby commit my $250,000 as a cash prize for the WFP award to set up a fund fully dedicated to providing financing for the youth of Africa in agriculture to feed Africa.

    “A day is coming very soon when the barns of Africa will be filled and all her children will be well fed when millions of farmers will be able to send their kids to school.

    “Then you will hear a new song across Africa; thank God our lives are better for us,’’Adesina said.

    The Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, who officially declared Adesina as the 2017 laureate winner of the WFP, said he was a man who grew out of poverty to create wealth.

    Reynolds said that the laureate commitment and dedication in agriculture had impacted on lives of many, not only in Africa but around the world.

    Former President of Ghana, John Mahama, attended the ceremony and other dignitaries from Nigeria and African countries.

  • World Bank, WFP and Borno restoration

    As a creative and novel response to persistent passionate pleas to the international community by President Muhammadu Buhari, the World Bank, through its FADAMA project, and the World Food Programme (WFP), are collaborating to restore livelihoods of over 7, 500 conflict-affected households in the North-east state of Borno.

    Since the Boko Haram terrorist group began its genocidal assault to take over the North-east in 2009, over eight million people have been displaced, tens of thousands of children kidnapped, thousands of children forced into war either as child soldiers, sex objects or cannons for suicide bombs detonations. It was therefore not surprising that the Global Institute for Economics and Peace, in its 2016 Global Terrorism Index, rated the dreaded Boko Haram group as the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world.

    The enormity of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement, as aptly captured by the “Three Rs” of the Borno Governor, Shettima Kashim, was not lost on the President as he pleaded to world leaders during a high-level event on “The Humanitarian Crisis in the Lake Chad Basin: A Turning Point,” in New York, jointly-sponsored by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the African Union, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the margins of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly that: “It is time for collective global action to invest in the people of Nigeria’s North-east and the Lake Chad Basin region. We are renewing the call for re-dedicated international action to end the humanitarian needs of victims and address the root causes of terrorism itself.”

    Same call was made by President Buhari in his address to the 72nd General Assembly of the UN in September, as he reported remarkable improvement in the war against insurgency and continuing efforts at wiping away the vestiges of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east and Lake Chad Basin, even as he reiterated that: “these can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support.”

    It was therefore a cheering and positive historical development in international and multilateral networking for humanity, when on October 4, just few dates after Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, (WFP), met at the Government House, Maiduguri, to sign a MoU on partnership between WFP and FADAMA III Additional Financing II. Through this partnership,   FADAMA and WFP will collaborate in restoring livelihoods, stabilizing communities, through income generating activities, agriculture interventions, and social protection – cash-for work interventions.

    Specifically, the project aims to increase asset ownership of beneficiaries involved in livestock and agricultural production with special focus on youth and women heads of households; and develop and maintain community assets through cash for work benefiting the most vulnerable community members including youth in peri-urban setting in Borno State.  Initially targeting 7,500 households, implementation is planned to start in November for a period of 12 months.

    The Country Director of the World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud, represented by Senior Agriculture Economist and Fadama Task Team Leader at the World Bank, Dr.  Adetunji Oredipe, informed that Fadama III Additional Financing II project has been effectively mobilized for rapid response to an emergency—specifically to contribute to the restoration of livelihoods for victims of violence and insecurity in the North-east. In this regard, “US$50 million was approved by the board of the World Bank in June 2016 in  response to the urgent food and livelihood needs of farming households who have been affected by conflicts in the six North-east states, namely  Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe.” The entire project resources, according to Oredipe, will be used to finance food security activities including food assistance, advisory and extension services, agricultural inputs and rehabilitation of infrastructure to help restore agriculture production and livelihoods of 24,000 farming households (approx. 192,000 individuals).

    While assuring that the Fadama team “will continue to look for avenues and innovative ways of partnering with other willing agencies to push the frontier of enduring sustainable strategy to provide better life for the millions of affected people in Borno State and beyond”, Oredipe expressed appreciation for the political will of the government to successfully execute the project:  “On behalf of my Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoud, our appreciation goes to His Excellency, Governor Shettima Kashim, and his counterparts in the six states of the North East, for providing the political support and conducive environment for the project team. I am happy to note that this project is succeeding because of your commitment and financial support”.

    WFP’s Director of Field Operations, Dr. Tito Nikodimos, counting on his organisation’s experience worldwide and in Nigeria, enthused that: “we are happy to partner with FADAMA and to contribute to food security and restoring livelihoods in vulnerable households”.  WFP targets 1.1 million in the three states Adamawa, Borno and Yobe covering 27 Local Government Areas in total. In its humanitarian response in the North-east, WFP provides food or cash assistance where markets are fully functioning. In addition, specialized nutritious food is provided to children and pregnant and nursing mothers to prevent malnutrition. Between July and December 2016, the number of people reached by WFP increased from 85,000 to more than one million monthly. The partnership will, no doubt expand and deepen the reach in the next 12 months.

    For Borno’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohammed Aliyu Dili, the project could not have come at a better time. An earlier assessment by WFP showed an improvement in food production in the state. “Our people are now preparing and some are even harvesting their crops. In his words, “any assistance in whatever form will no doubt bridge the gap in restoring their livelihood and improving the food security, especially of the communities devastated by the insurgents”, he said.

    The Borno governor described the event as “special moment that marks a new page of cooperation between Fadama III Additional Financing II, a flagship project of the World Bank in the North East of Nigeria and the World Food Programme (WFP) here in Maiduguri”, saying the situation in Borno State, as you are all aware, calls for an initiative of this nature where strong partners will agree to come together latching on their individual strength to form a coalition to pursue a common cause. The partnership, he believed, will make a positive impact in the lives of our people who are devastated by the insurgency.

     

    • Oladunjoye is National Media Consultant to the Fadama Project in Nigeria

     

  • 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

  • WFP chief calls for more efforts to overcome crisis in Northeast

    WFP chief calls for more efforts to overcome crisis in Northeast

    The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley has hailed the massive and joint push by Nigerian authorities and humanitarian workers to save lives in the Northeast part of the country.

    He gave the commendation after talks with top officials and people left destitute by the crisis in region but warned on Wednesday that the momentum must continue in the face of a complex and challenging emergency.

    “We are seeing the power of humanitarian assistance,” said Beasley, following a trip to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State that is hardest hit by the Boko Haram-driven crisis.

    “It has changed the lives of malnourished children whose mothers once worried about whether they would survive,” he said.  “It is giving hope to many displaced and hungry people, and to others who are now returning home. Together, we are making a difference, but we must build on these fragile successes.”

    Beasley who is on a  two-day visit to Nigeria — his first since being appointed to head WFP in March — held meetings with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Borno State Deputy Governor Usman Durkwa.

    He also spoke with community leaders and young mothers at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Maiduguri, a city that shelters hundreds of thousands fleeing hunger and conflict.

     

    Beasley warned of the broader impact of the crisis that goes beyond Nigeria and spreads across the four-nation Lake Chad Basin region that also includes Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

    “This is a major crisis that needs a security, humanitarian and development component — these are key to resolving it in the short and long term,” he said. “The international community cannot afford to ignore this problem, or it risks getting much worse.”

    He also noted the Nigerian government’s significant hunger-fighting commitments, which include a recent donation of 5,000 mt of rice to WFP’s operations. Authorities have launched a separate relief initiative aimed to distribute 30,000 mt of rice to hungry people in six Nigerian states.

    Across Northeast Nigeria this year, WFP through its partners has been delivering monthly food and nutritional assistance to more than a million extremely vulnerable people. Thanks to generous donor contributions, our steady support helps to stabilize lives.

    But the overall situation remains extremely worrying. The June-September lean season has worsened malnutrition in many places.

    WFP has purchased nearly $95 million worth of locally grown food for its operations, and injected an overall US$212 million into the Nigerian economy if cash transfers, transport, local salaries and other expenditures are taken into account.

     

  • Fed Govt donates rice to WFP

    The Federal Government has donated 5,000 metric tonnes of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

    This will help feed nearly half-a-million internally displaced people in the conflict-ravaged northeast of the country, where the threat of famine persists.

    WFP has begun moving the first batch of the rice – and expects a further 2,000 metric tons of millet pledged by the Nigerian authorities.

    “As a responsible government, the Federal Government, in recognition of the efforts of humanitarian actors and the need to ensure food security for the people affected by insurgency in the north east, has not only approved the distribution of 35,905 metric tonnes of grains to the people, but has also approved the release of 5,000 metric tons of rice for distribution by World Food Programme (WFP) in some communities affected by insurgency,” said Director-General,  National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja.

    Since its launch last year, WFP has expanded its offer of food, nutrition and cash to reach more than a million people monthly. Having overcome a funding challenge, it has set its target at 1.36 million people during the pre-harvest lean season, the hungriest time of the year.

    “This donation once again testifies to the quality of relations between WFP and Nigeria,” said Ronald Sibanda, WFP’s interim country director. “Our partnership with the Government’s specialised emergency agencies, both at the federal and state level, have been crucial in allowing us to assist those who need it most.”

    As part of a $100 million contribution to WFP’s Nigeria response, the US will cover the associated costs of getting the donated rice to those displaced in the hardest-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

    Nigeria’s crisis has spilled over borders, leaving millions in the broader Lake Chad Basin region uncertain of where their meal is coming from. Experts have warned that without sufficient and timely humanitarian assistance, northeast Nigeria risks tipping into famine.

    WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in about 80 countries.

  • WFP begins transportation of food to IDPs

    WFP begins transportation of food to IDPs

    The World Food Programme (WFP) has commenced transportation of food assistance to the northeast, where people displaced by Boko Haram violence need urgent food assistance.

    The WFP said it has already begun moving the first batch of rice donated by Nigerian government, which contributed 5,000 metric tonnes of rice and pledged a further 2,000 metric tons of millet.

    “This donation once again testifies to the quality of relations between WFP and Nigeria,” WFP’s interim Country Director, Ronald Sibanda, said in a statement issued by the United Nations.

    Sibanda noted that the assistance by the UN humanitarian agency fighting hunger would help feed nearly half-a-million internally displaced people in the conflict-ravaged northeast.

    “The United States will cover the associated costs of getting the donated rice to those displaced in the hardest-hit states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, as part of its 100 million dollars contribution to WFP’s Nigeria response.

    “Nigeria’s crisis has spilled over borders, leaving millions in the broader Lake Chad Basin region uncertain of where their meal is coming from.

    “Experts have warned that without sufficient and timely humanitarian assistance, northeast Nigeria risks tipping into famine,” he said.

    He said since launching operations in 2016, WFP has rapidly expanded its offer of food, nutrition and cash to reach more than a million people a month.

    NAN