Food security and nutrition analysis expands to southern Nigeria
Abuja - Nigeria The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has expanded the food security and nutrition analysis also known as Cadre Harmonisé (CH) to five new states of Abia, Enugu, Cross River, Edo and Lagos in southern Nigeria.
In March this year, FMARD Permanent Secretary, Dr. Earnest Umakhihe, announced that the Federal Government had approved the expansion of the analysis to all the remaining twenty states in the country following its successful implementation in sixteen northern states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since 2015. The sixteen states were Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and FCT.
According to Dr. Umakhihe, the Federal Government was satisfied with the process and had realized that the CH results were 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 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 whole country.
Reacting to the decision, the Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Nigeria and to ECOWAS, Fred Kafeero, was applauded this important step in ascertaining the status of food security and nutrition in the country. “FAO has been providing financial, technical and logistical support to the CH processes since 2015 when CH was first introduced in Nigeria and its results have become a major yardstick for identifying vulnerable populations in need food security intervention,” he pointed out adding: “We pledge to walk the journey with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure a successful expansion across the country.”
Speaking in Abuja on Friday, August 6, the Food Security Analyst of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Nigeria, Jasper Batureine Mwesigwa, noted that the CH technical working group led by the National Program for Food Security (NPFS) and partners proposed a phased approach in the CH expansion process.
“The CH expansion will proceed in phases, beginning with five southern states he said. He was speaking during a CH Level 1 Training for State Level CH Analysis Task Force (SATF) members organized in Abuja by FAO from 2 to 6 August 2021
According to him, CH is the most widely accepted framework for analyzing the severity of acute food and nutrition insecurity to inform decision-making across the Economic Organization of the West African States (ECOWAS) and Sahel sub-region by converging multisectoral evidence to provide information to inform preparedness and responses.
Explaining the proposed steps guiding the phased CH expansion process in the new states, Mr. Mwesigwa said that they began with the development of CH analysis work plans followed by awareness-raising and sensitization to Federal Government and State leadership and relevant stakeholders; and training of State CH Analysis Task Force (SATF) members was the third step.
Besides, he added, the process is involving capacity building of state level stakeholders in conducting food security assessments including collection of data; dialogue with stakeholders, identification of the required resources, conducting of assessments, and acute food security analysis using the CH tool, among others.
Mr. Mwesigwa concluded that the successful completion of the CH Level 1 Training for the 5 new states during which a total of 37 food security analysts were trained, was a major step in the CH expansion process.
About Cadre Harmonisé
The CH process is led by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) 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.
Related Links
http://www.fao.org/nigeria/news/detail-events/en/c/1418120/
http://www.fao.org/nigeria/news/detail-events/en/c/1382380/
For more information:
Emmanuel Kihaule David Tsokar
FAO Nigeria, Communications Specialist FAO Nigeria, Communications Specialist
E-mail : [email protected] E-mail : [email protected]