FG, Partners launch $306 Appeal Fund to Tackle Food Security
By Chibuzo Ihegboro
The Federal Government of Nigeria, and International Partners launched an appeal for $306 million to tackle food security and nutritional crisis in the Northern area of the country.
The appeal was launched on Tuesday in Abuja with the aim of fast-tracking food assistance, nutrition supplies and services, clean water, healthcare, and protection support to people in severe need during the period in the three states that were heavily impacted by the over a decade Boko Haram crisis.
This initiative is coming on the heels of the deteriorating food security and nutrition crisis in the BAY states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe in this lean season of May to September.
According to the government-led Cadre Harmonisé analysis released in March this year, in the BAY states, some 4.8 million people are estimated to be facing severe food insecurity, the highest level in seven years.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar, said the mobilisation of funding and resources to address the lean season food security and nutrition crisis envisaged in the north-eastern part of the country was a step in the right direction in complementing the federal government’s efforts to prevent the deaths of people as a result of malnutrition-related complications.
The food and nutrition crisis, which has been compounded by soaring food prices, is primarily due to continued conflict and insecurity in the BAY states, alongside climate change impacts.
