Flooding: Nigeria receives $244 million for emergency food production

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), have provided 244 million dollars for emergency food production in Nigeria.

The President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said this at the inauguration of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones in Abuja.

Adesina said the bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility provided 134 million dollars, while JICA provided 110 million dollars.

Adesina's words: “I would like to thank the Japanese International Development Agency (JICA) for co-financing this with an additional 110 million dollars.

“That means we collectively made available 244 million dollars for emergency food production in Nigeria.’’

The AfDB president also said there was the need for greater action, responsiveness, and delivery to avert a food crisis in the country.

Recall: The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had said there are signs that the recent flooding in the country would cause more stress to the food system, affecting harvest and prices.

“The floods that have been happening are going to cause more stress on our food system. We realise that the floods are currently destroying crops and therefore the harvest that is expected will be much less, and it will mean that more of our people will struggle to afford food,” she added.

Why Nigeria is experiencing floods

A Pulse Explainer narrowed down the reason for the recent flooding situation in Nigeria. It said that due to the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, many Nigerian communities along the courses of River Niger and River Benue have been affected by floods.

The explainer states that the Nigerian government defaulted on an agreement with the Cameroon government; ultimately to the detriment of farms in the food basket of the Nation. (READ HERE)