The World Food Programme and the Economic Community of West African States have provided multi-purpose cash and nutritious food worth $1m to cushion the effect of food crisis and malnutrition challenges in North-West Nigeria.
Partners in the deal said the support was part of the stabilisation fund put together to help address the food crisis in the region.
The Deputy Head of Programme, WFP Abuja, Manuela Reinfeld, while speaking at the launch of ECOWAS-FMHAPA-WFP stabilisation project phase 2 in Katsina on Friday, said the WFP supported the fund with about $600,000.
She said the sum was to cover associated costs to address malnutrition challenges, especially for pregnant lactating women and their children under age two.
Reinfeld noted that the fund was to support therapeutic supplementary feeding, such as soya-corn blend for the women, adding that WFP would support the vulnerable by providing unconditional food assistance with about 5,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Ukraine for Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States.
“We are also trying to help them address the root causes of malnutrition. We are helping them with resilient building activities and we are targeting women.
“Here in the North-West, we will be distributing about 5,000 metric tonnes, out of which 2,000 will come to Katsina. This intervention from ECOWAS is a donation of $1m, out of which WFP has supplemented this with about $600,000 to cover associated costs,” she stated.
She remarked that the $1m was directly going to the beneficiaries, as they would be provided with wheat grains for the next three months.
According to Reinfeld, a similar programme will be extended to other local government areas towards the end of the year.
On his part, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to ECOWAS and Chairperson of the ECOWAS Permanent Representative Committee, Musa Nuhu, said ECOWAS established the stabilisation fund to assist victims of terrorism, which was expanded to include those affected by banditry.
“So it was the ECOWAS Commission that came up with the idea of setting aside $1m to be given to Nigeria every year so that it will come up with a programme to provide social alleviation initiatives for victims of insecurity in the North-East and North-West.
“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria has the statutory responsibility to attend to the humanitarian needs of our citizens. That is why ECOWAS is always linked up with the humanitarian affairs ministry to come up with modalities for the implementation,” he said.
The Kastina State Government, Dikko Radda, commended ECOWAS, WFP and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs for the support, saying the project would empower and transfer best practices to the state’s institutions during its implementation
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Olumuyiwa Enitan, said beneficiaries of the programme were carefully selected in line with global best practices as they were the most vulnerable in the state.
He declared that 14,694 vulnerable people were selected from Kastina and Sokoto States, adding that 7,347 beneficiaries were selected from two local government areas in Katsina State.
According to Enitan, these efforts have the ultimate goal of ensuring a future where peace, stability and prosperity are not just aspirations or mere wishful thinking, but reality for all.