According to the latest Cadre Harmonisé food security analysis, hunger has considerably declined by half in the three states ravaged by violence.
The report hinged this feat on the improved security situation, and the scaling-up of humanitarian and longer-term livelihoods assistance by the government and its partners.
Food Agency Organization (FAO), provided cowpea, maize, millet, sorghum, vegetable seeds and fertilisers to 1 million people – internally displaced populations (IDPs), returned refugees and host communities – to help them get through the last rainy season (June-September) when food stocks are low.
FAO aims to further boost local production through distributions of vegetable seeds, farming kits, fertilizers and irrigation equipment to some 780,000 people across the state affected by the insurgency.
Conflict Causing SDG Zero Hunger Failure in Near East and North Africa
The report warns, however, that without sustained and timely assistance, all good work could quickly be undone; more than 3.5 million people could battle again with acute hunger, including a risk of famine, by next August.
Across North-Eastern Nigeria, violence aside, farmers have been through a lot these past few months; some have had to deal with a dry spell, others with flooding and Others still with pest infections.
The villages are still a bustling field of yellow as farmers cut the last millet and sorghum and pile them in neat bundles in Yobe, one of the three states affected by insurgency.
In a bid to support host communities to plant during the rainy season, FAO has also brought relief to displaced, landless populations who could work on the fields and earn income.
Sustained support – from rainy to dry season – builds vulnerable communities’ resilience, strengthen their capacity to grow both staple and cash crops, and reduces the need for food assistance.
