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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Over N1.507 billion ($1 million) has been provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support emergency food response for flood-affected communities in the North East.
Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Nigeria, Mr David Stevenson, disclosed this in Maiduguri, Borno’s capital yesterday during the flag-off of the distribution of foods and cash provided with the fund.
Stevenson said the support from the AfDB’s Special Relief Fund was being used to provide emergency food assistance to 120,000 women, men and children in the North East, especially those affected by the 2024 devastating flood.
“Communities, which after years of conflict and violence, had started rebuilding their lives, were struck by the floods, and once again displaced, meaning more and more people cannot support themselves and their families,” Stevenson said.
He said he and some officials of WFP had undertaken an assessment of the devastations caused by the flood with large farmlands and homes swept away.
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Earlier in a statement, WFP said the support came at a critical period when Nigeria faces alarmingly food insecurity exacerbated by conflict, floods and a hard economic environment amid short supply of humanitarian funding by international donor nations and organisations.
It said the alarming rate of food crisis in the North East, particularly Borno, was worsened by the second displacement of thousands of farming communities in September last year, the WFP head said.
Thousands of displaced persons, who were resettled in their local government after 14 years of displacement by Boko Haram violence, had barely settled down for farming activities when they were displaced again by the devastating flood.
“AfDB’s support is timely and comes as a lifeline for those struggling to feed themselves amidst rising food prices and economic turmoil,” it said.
Head of Borno Area office of WFP, Emmanuel Biginimana explained that each of the households was given a token, which they use to collect a 25kg bag of rice, 10kg bag of beans and card for multipurpose cash of N100,000 each to get some house needs.
The WFP Country director was accompanied to Maiduguri for the distribution by the AfDB Director General.
