FG begins grains distribution program to avert food crisis in North East

shakirudeen taiwo

June 9, 2017 10:46 AM

This initiative was an emergency plan by the Federal Government to avoid famine within the regions as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) scaled-down operations.

Governor of Borno, Alhaji Kashim Shettima receiving Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo during official visit to Borno on Thursday, June 8, 2017.

Nigeria’s Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has announced the commencement of a Special Relief Intervention initiative aimed at ensuring availability of food to over 1.8 million persons living in various Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the North East.

The Acting President used his official visit to Maiduguri on Thursday, June 8, 2019, to officially unveiled the program, noting that it is a new and more effective distribution plan for delivering relief materials to IDPs.

This initiative was an emergency plan by the Federal Government to avoid famine within the regions as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) scaled-down plans for emergency feeding of 400,000 people in Boko Haram hit north-east Nigeria due to funding shortfalls.

Under the new plan, the Acting President noted that officials will now deliver food items to the IDPs at their doorsteps in exchange for a pre-issued voucher.

“We are incorporating the voucher system which does not only make the process of relief distribution transparent, it will improve our own data collection and our national capacity to plan for what will be a quarterly exercise.”

“As we restore and maintain security in the region, we must not lose sight of the need to provide social service, food, education, healthcare, shelter as well as resettlement and livelihood support,” Osinabjo stated.

The relief program, which will be coordinated by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in partnership with State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) and International Humanitarian Agencies, is expected to take measures towards ensuring transparent and equitable distribution of the grains.

According to NEMA: “Each household beneficiary would be issued with a voucher, which will be redeemed at the receipt of the household allocation of the food basket.”

This voucher system will ensure that all the food gets to intended beneficiaries and that all those who receive assistance are accounted for.

Osinbajo also noted that a total of 30,000 metric tonnes of food — comprising Maize, Sorghum, and Soyabeans, are to be distributed in the first phase of the program launched on grown locally by Nigerian farmers and purchased from Nigerian companies June 8, 2017.

shakirudeen taiwo

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