The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in collaboration with the Borno State Government has flagged off 2022 rainy season cultivation for 42,000 farmers to address looming food insecurity in the three states worst hit by Boko Haram insurgents.
Emergency Operations Officer, FAO North East Sub-Office Maiduguri, Tofiq Braimah, stated during the launch in Maiduguri, Borno State capital yesterday that around 4.1 million people would be at risk of severe hunger by December in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe respectively.
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He noted that FAO’s emergency strategy aims to strengthen the food production capacity of farming and agro-pastoral communities in conflict-affected areas.
“Our findings project that by December 2022; around 4.1 million persons would be at risk of food insecurity in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe state. The provision of quality rainy season farming inputs would improve the productivity of the farmers and contribute to resilience, food security, and nutrition.
“We are supporting vulnerable households, including returning IDPs and their host communities with productive agriculture assets to rebuild their lives and households. The 2022 rainy season intervention targets 42,400 households across Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, and Taraba States, out of which 19,898 farmers are in Borno state alone, “Tofiq said.
He stressed that the 2022 rainy season is funded by 8 financing partners including Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland ECHO, and Canada among others.
In his remarks, the Borno State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ali Bunu Mustapha expressed worry over millions of people at risk of food insecurity in the region ravaged by war, while appealing to the United Nations to scale up their interventions especially in BAY States to avert the looming threat.
