FG to mainstream food security analysis to all states of the federation
Abuja: The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the expansion of the food security and nutrition analysis to all states in the country following successes recorded with the Cadre Harmonise (CH) process in some parts of northern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the last six years.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Earnest Umakhihe, revealed this on Friday when officiating the presentation of the March 2021 CH results of the analysed states in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government is satisfied with the process and has realised that the CH results are an important tool for guiding resources allocation and programme intervention.
“Consequently, the management of FMARD has approved the expansion of CH activities to other states of Nigeria so as to achieve a nationwide coverage to facilitate the generation of a general view of food security and nutrition situation in Nigeria,” he pointed out.
He therefore urged the all the stakeholders and particularly the development partners to join hands with the Federal Government in the ambitious drive aimed at ensuring food security and nutrition in the country.
Speaking earlier on, the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Fred Kafeero, said since 2016 when the process was first introduced in Nigeria, its results have become a major yardstick for identifying vulnerable populations in need of humanitarian assistance.
He also added that the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact exacerbated disruptions to livelihoods with severe effect on food security and nutrition.
“An estimated 9.2 million people in Nigeria were in acute crisis or worse food insecurity between October and December 2020. The results indicated that the situation would have gotten worse in case immediate measures were not taken to mitigate the situation whereby about 13 million people were going to face similar food security challenges between June and August this year,” he recalled.
Mr. Kafeero added that the March 2021 CH results were going to give a clear picture on the current food security situation in the sixteen states and FCT and therefore give the stakeholders an opportunity to plan and strategize on how support the affected populations.
“Food security and nutrition are at the core of FAO’s mandate and we are committed in working with Government and all partners in the provision of livelihood assistance to the vulnerable groups identified through this process,” he concluded.
On his side, the Senior Technical Adviser on Food Security at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Salisu Sow, said that there is a need to strengthen human capacities within the national food security and early warning systems in the region.
“There is a real need to tackle the sustainability of the framework to undertake advocacy towards the highest authorities in order to include food security, nutrition and early warning system issues into their political agenda in order to achieve the related Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
The states analyzed for the March 2021 CH were Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and FCT.
The CH process is led by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and is facilitated through the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS).
Its financial and technical support comes from FAO, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), European Union, the French Development Agency and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Others include the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Oxfam, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Save the Children, among others.
Contacts:
Emmanuel Kihaule David Tsokar Opeyemi Olagunju
Communication Specialist Communication Specialist Communication and Reporting officer
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