ActionAid, an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has called for the collaboration of the global community to support the recharging of the Lake Chad Basin to address the plight of people displaced due to the shrinking size of the lake.
Andrew Mamedu, Country Director, ActionAid, made the appeal as part of global activities to commemorate World Food Day in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that World Food Day, observed annually on Oct. 16, has as its theme “Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind”.
He said the global community could come together to support the recharging of the lake.
Mamedu, who said on Monday that Lake Chad Basin had been reduced by 90 per cent, added that recharging it would help 30 to 50 million people who have been displaced.
According to him, two-thirds of the Nigerian population does not have access to potable water, and many things need to be done at the local, community and national levels.
He said: “These are the global actions we are pushing for, and we will join the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security and Water Resources to keep collaborating to push for issues of the right to food and water.
“We work with community, working with partners like Oxfam and other organisations to do this, working side by side with the ministry to ensure that food is guaranteed in Nigeria.
“We believe that at the end of the day, government pays more attention to delivering food security to its citizenry, which is a right as signed into law.” (NAN)
