The food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has projected that by December this year, about 4.1 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States will be at risk of severe hunger and acute malnutrition.
The three states are the worst hit by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents that lasted over a decade in the Northeastern part of Nigeria. Recent reports indicate that fighters belonging to the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP, have a presence in the zone.
Mr Tofiq Braimah, Emergency Operations Officer, FAO, Northeast Sub-Office Maiduguri said this in Maiduguri during the launch of 2022 Farming Cultivation Season targeting 42,000 farmers to address food insecurity.
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He said, “Our findings project that by December 2022; around 4.1 million persons would be at risk of food insecurity in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe state. The provision of quality rainy season farming inputs would improve the productivity of the farmers and contribute to resilience, food security, and nutrition.
“We are supporting vulnerable households, including returning IDPs and their host communities with productive agriculture assets to rebuild their lives and households. The 2022 rainy season intervention targets 42,400 households across Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Sokoto, and Taraba States, out of which 19,898 farmers are in Borno state alone.”
At the moment, there are over two million internally displaced persons in the three northeastern states as a result of the activities of insurgents.
