UN Donates N5.7b To Save North-East From Looming Food Crisis

The United Nations (UN) says it has allocated 15 million United States dollars (5,722,500,000 naira) towards addressing hunger crisis among about 5.1 million people living in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

It added that the Covid-19 pandemic had worsened the situation in the area, hence, the intervention.

This was disclosed in a UN statement on Wednesday, obtained by THE WHISTLER.

“The Emergency Relief Chief Mark Lowcock has allocated a total of $15 million emergency funding to address rising food insecurity in north-east Nigeria.

“The ongoing crisis affecting Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are driving hunger to alarming levels.

“Up to 5.1 million people risk being critically food insecure in the crisis-affected states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, during the next lean season period of June to August 2021, according to the latest official food security assessment and projections,” it stated.

According to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, the global organization notes the pressing demands of the North East.

He also stressed that the UN, through aid workers had provided food to 3 million people across those areas as at September.

“The humanitarian community is extremely worried by the rising food insecurity in north-east Nigeria. We are now recording levels of food insecurity similar to 2016-2017, at the peak of the humanitarian crisis, when the risk of famine was looming over the north-east,”

“We are not at famine levels of food insecurity in Nigeria, but we must spare no efforts to scale up our actions and ensure that the situation does not deteriorate,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said that for successful interventions in conflict or crisis areas to become a reality the UN member states would have to provide more funds to that end.

The statement further reads:

“According to findings released on 5 November from the Cadre Harmonise analysis, the most comprehensive food security analytical framework for Nigeria, the food security situation is rapidly deteriorating.

“Projections for the 2021 lean season, when farmers risk running out of food while awaiting their harvest, indicate an increase of about 20 percent of people at risk of hunger compared to the 4.3 million food insecure people projected in June 2020 for the same season , at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the past, we have been able to avert food insecurity deteriorating into a famine by working together, pooling our resources and scaling up our efforts.

“With adequate resources and improved access, we can save lives and curb the trend of rapidly deteriorating food insecurity.

” This funding from the Central Emergency Response Fund comes right on time to start scaling up these efforts and I appeal to Member States to provide the resources we urgently need.”