By Billy Graham Abel, Yola
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has commenced its 2024/2025 dry season farmer input distribution program in Northeast Nigeria. The initiative aims to assist 49,000 households across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe (BAY) states as the region grapples with severe food insecurity, affecting an estimated 4.9 million people.
The intervention focuses on supporting communities recently relocated due to flooding and other food security challenges. FAO Representative ad interim in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dominique Koffy Kouacou, emphasized the need to assist small-scale farmers during the challenging dry season.
“This program is essential to improving food security, boosting agricultural productivity, and enhancing resilience to climate change,” Kouacou said.
FAO plans to distribute vegetable and cereal seeds, fertilizers, and water pumps across 24 local government areas (LGAs) in the BAY states. Beneficiaries will receive items such as maize, rice, amaranth, cabbage, and tomato seeds, alongside 25 kg of NPK fertilizer per household. Farmers will also share petrol-powered water pumps to support irrigation.
Based on statistics made available to Sunday Sun by FAO, intervention across the three states will cover about 24,500 households in 12 LGAs of Borno state, 9,800 households in 6 LGAs will be reached in Adamawa state, and about 14,700 households in 9 LGAs will also be captured in the intervention in Yobe state.
The initiative comes as the latest Cadre Harmonisé analysis reveals alarming food insecurity levels in the region. 1.3 million people in Adamawa, 2 million in Borno, and 1.6 million in Yobe face crisis or worse. Factors such as conflict, floods, and droughts have destroyed over 300,000 hectares of farmland, displacing communities and worsening livelihoods.
“This intervention is a lifeline for farmers to re-engage in agricultural production and recover from the devastating effects of climate change and conflict,” FAO noted.
Speaking at the dry season farmer input launch, the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, commended FAO’s efforts during the launch event in Girei.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Food Security, Dishi Kobe, Fintiri highlighted the state’s complementary agricultural programs, including land-clearing and seed multiplication initiatives.
“FAO’s contributions align with our agenda to ensure food availability and affordability,” he stated. “However, we urge FAO to explore alternatives to petrol-powered water pumps due to high operational costs.”
Addressing beneficiaries, Fintiri encouraged proper utilization of the inputs to achieve food security goals. “These inputs are not for sale. Use them to cultivate, support yourselves, and aim for a bumper harvest,” he urged.
FAO’s programme represents a critical step toward addressing Northeast Nigeria’s food crisis, restoring livelihoods, and strengthening agricultural resilience. Through collaboration with local governments and stakeholders, the initiative seeks to provide lasting solutions to the challenges faced by vulnerable communities in the region.