Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) has mobilised over $1 million for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to enhance food production and mitigate protection risks among households affected by insurgency and COVID-19 pandemic in the North-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
A statement issued yesterday by the FAO Representative in Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), Fred Kafeero, said the funding is the latest of ECHO’s support to restore livelihoods and build resilience in the war-torn region.
Kafeero said through the funding, FAO would further strengthen the essential functioning of the food security sector, a multi-partner unit, which coordinates the provision of food and livelihood assistance to millions of affected households in the region.
He noted that the funding would also support the restoration of agricultural livelihoods and improvement of protection of women and men through the provision of quality and improved agricultural inputs for food production during the 2021 rainy and dry seasons farming.
Kafeero added that this would be combined with the provision of extension services through the establishment of farmer field schools.
The country representative also said under the same ECHO funding, FAO would increase the capacity for production and provision of environment-friendly fuel-efficient stoves (FES) largely to women, noting that availability of the FES is expected to reduce the women’s exposure to protection risks which are associated with frequent foray into insurgents-infested forests for firewood.
Kafeero recalled that recent studies by FAO revealed that households that use the FES have reduced their trips to the forests for firewood by 50 percent, while they also save about 50 percent from the cost of firewood.
According to him, “This funding, which is a continuation of ECHO’s long-standing support to FAO in Nigeria, will significantly contribute to the recovery and resilience building efforts in the North-east region.”
He revealed that working in close collaboration with the Nigerian Government at national and sub-national levels, FAO would implement the initiative in partnership with local and international development partners to ensure its sustainability.
The latest cadre harmonised analysis results have projected that over four million persons will be in dire need of food assistance in the crisis most affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe between June and August 2021, an increase of about 19 percent from the same period last year, with the recent gains achieved in the region by humanitarian actors eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
