Nigeria will receive US$2.5 billion from the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) over the next four years to assist in combating hunger and malnutrition. The announcement was made recently in Abuja during the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Humanitarian Disaster Management and Social Development joint press conference. The press conference was aimed at announcing the WFP Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for Nigeria, especially as regards addressing hunger and malnutrition in some parts of Northeast, Northwest and other selected states.
Some of the states outlined for intervention are Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in the Northeast; Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina in the Northwest; as well as Cross River and Taraba states. The most vulnerable citizens of the nation continue to experience horrific levels of food insecurity and malnutrition as a result of protracted conflicts, organised violence, frequent weather disruptions, and widespread effects of climate change, according to WFP Representative and Country Director in Nigeria, David Stevenson.
He expressed his dissatisfaction over the fact that one in three households in Nigeria are unable to purchase nutritionally-balanced meals, and that more than 100 million individuals are dealing with, at least, a moderate level of food insecurity. He further lamented how regional food crises have been worsened by the worldwide food supply crisis, inhibiting Nigeria’s economic comeback from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The World Food Programme (WFP) in Nigeria is providing coverage for the Northeast, Northwest and the states hosting Cameroonian refugees with a total budget of US$2.5 billion for a period of five years.
According to him, Nigeria will address the challenges posed by the deteriorating food and nutrition situation, through WFP’s intervention to “integrate its dual mandate by working on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, applying targeted emergency responses that save lives while opening shock-responsive pathways to rapid recovery and resilience using a gender transformative, nutrition mainstreaming, climate smart, and conflict sensitive approach”. WFP is devoted to crisis response, fortifying resilience, and tackling the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition.
