The Victims Support Fund (VSF) has distributed agricultural inputs to 1,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) farmers to restore livelihoods in Borno. The targeted IDPs comprise smallholder farmers that were affected in the 12-year Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast. While distributing the farm inputs at the weekend at Shani, the Executive Director of the Fund, Prof. Nana Tanko; disclosed: “This gesture was aimed at supporting smallholder farmers in conflict affected communities of Northeast and other parts of Nigeria. According to her, the distributed inputs; included NPK liquid fertilizers, improved seeds, as well as knapsack sprayers to prevent pre and post-harvest losses. She said that the distributed inputs and equipment would assist the IDP farmers resume agricultural activities to enhance food production for self-sufficiency. Nana noted that this will cease the IDPs to depend on food stamps of the State Government and UN Humanitarian Agencies.
“We’re targeting 3,000 IDP farmers in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Niger States under our agriculture support programme,” she said. While reviewing VSF’s other interventions, she said: “The Fund has implemented several interventions to support victims of insurgency.” Besides, she added: “We also rehabilitated most of the destroyed infrastructures, including dozens of skills acquisition centres and primary schools in the region.” Other areas of interventions included livelihood support and women economic empowerment, provisions of hospital equipment, educational and psychosocial support services to the affected children. “We had also intervened in the peace building process to protect people’s lives and property in the Northeast,” she said. While thanking the Fund, Governor Babagana Zulum said that the distributed inputs will provide succour to farmers affected in the over a decade insurgency.
Zulum, who was represented by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Bukar Talba said the gesture would complement government efforts in resuscitating the agricultural sector that had been dormant because of insecurity. He said the state government had supported IDP farmers with agricultural inputs to restore their means of livelihoods. Chairman of Kwaya/Kusar Council, Samson Dibal disclosed that before the 12-year insurgency the farmers were the largest food producers in the state. He lamented farmers’ inaccessibility to agricultural inputs, as the major challenge of harnessing agricultural and livestock resources in the council. He said that the IDP farmers are not only to restore their livelihoods, but achieve food security in the state.
