Jutha Gupah, Maiduguri June 12, 2020.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) representative in Nigeria, Al Hassan Cisse, has said that an integrated approach; is adopted to engage and empower local smallholders in tackling malnutrition, food security and poverty. According to him, the approach ensures that communities are key actors in the rebuilding process that guarantees sustainability interventions in Northeast. The Northeast states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe were also affected by decade long Boko Haram insurgency that claimed many lives and property. In a statement Friday in Maiduguri of Borno state, Cisse disclosed: “The fresh food voucher programme is part of a comprehensive development initiative funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF). “The programme is to restore the lost livelihoods of about 100, 000 farming households in Borno State through the provision of a wide array of agricultural support and capacity building activities.”
He noted that lean season, between June and August of each year, is a period when conflict-affected households in northeast Nigeria are most at risk of food shortages. On implementation, he said: “The European Union-funded initiative jointly implemented by FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP) and UN Women in collaboration with the Borno State Government, is to enable severely food-insecure households access a monthly basket of nutritious fresh food from local farmers.” He said the targeted households were selected from Bama, Dikwa, Gwoza and Monguno Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state based on their level of vulnerability to food shortages and malnutrition. “Each fresh food basket contains beans, cabbage, okra, potatoes, red peppers, tomatoes, and eggs,” said Cisse. While lamenting on coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he said: “It disrupted food supply chains and limited access to local markets,” adding that it worsens food security conditions in fragile regions in northeast Nigeria. He said the initiative will significantly boost the food and nutrition options available to benefitting households, particularly during the current lean season.
According to him, during lean season, household food stocks are being depleted, while farmers prepare for a new planting season. On strengthening local markets, he said: “The fresh food voucher programme was devised to revive rural markets that have been disrupted by the crisis,” adding that it will also create market linkages to enable smallholder farmers to sell their produce through a supply chain mechanism. He noted that the chain mechanism engages many local vendors in insurgency affected states. While smallholder producers, he said are farmers empowered with poultry production and crop production inputs received through the same EU-funded initiative. He said that the collaboration between local vendors and farmers enables vendors purchase the produce from farmers at pre-agreed intervals and prices. “The prices are determined by the findings of a market assessment in the state,” he said. He said local vendors, using a simulated open-air market scenario, also aggregate and sells produce to selected beneficiary households. “The households complete their purchases using pre-loaded electronic vouchers,” he said.
He noted that the collaboration will be strengthened to enable smallholders to reduce risk, expand their production and increase their income. “The FAO initiative comes at a crucial time because the pandemic has prevented many local vendors from sourcing produce from farmers and accessing markets,” he lamented. Lamenting on coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Al Amin Umar, from Gwoza also said: “Coronavirus slowed down my sales by about 90 percent. I lost some of my stock and it was difficult to get supply from the farm. “I am hopeful that this activity will help me to restart my business,” said Umar.
