The Mercy Corps Country Director, Ndubisi Anyanwu has engaged governments and statekeholders on the implementation of Corps’ three programmes to strengthen citizen, government and market capacities in Adamawa state. According to him, the three programmes comprise COMITAS, Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity and Small Town Wash (STW). Anyanwu in a statement Friday in Maiduguri disclosed that the engagements focused on strengthening partnership with government stakeholders to improve synergy with Mercy Corps’ programmes.
He noted that the implementation of the three programmes is in line with the State’s priorities for economic growth and development. “COMITAS focuses on addressing farmer/herder issues, building resilience, managing conflicts and supporting economic development in the state,” he said. While the Feed the Future, according to him, targets to improve national food security to reduce hunger in the state.
On the STW project, he said: “The Small Town Wash is a five-year project sponsored by the USAID to promote water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in small towns with a population not less than less than 20, 000. He noted that the state is recovering from the 12-year Boko Haram insurgency that claimed many lives and property in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. According to him, the Adamawa State Ministry of Agriculture is building the capacity of citizens and providing demo plots for farmers to learn best farming practices and technologies. He further disclosed that 118 demonstration plots have been established for 248, 000 farmers in seven Local Government Areas.
“We’ll also provide direct cash transfers to citizens to contribute in alleviating the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the economy,” he said. While responding to Mercy Corps engagements, Adamawa’s Deputy Governor, Crowther Seth, said: “Mercy Corps’ work is dependent on strong partnerships with government, highlighting how significant Corps’ contributions to the state government’s ongoing efforts to improve people’s lives. “It also tackled the challenges posed by the insurgency in various parts of the state.” He therefore directed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources to send a memo listing Mercy Corps’ request to implement the SWT programme in the state.
