WFP Partners Nigeria On COVID-19 Palliatives For Urban Cities

Posted by African Examiner African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News, News Across Nigeria, News From The State, Uncategorized Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in collaboration with the Nigerian Government has launched a cash and food assistance programme in the three urban COVID-19 hotspots of Abuja, Kano and Lagos.

The Nigerian Government has released 2,000 metric tons of food from its Strategic Grain Reserve (valued at US$1 million), while WFP is releasing US$3 million to provide cash assistance.

Working together with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, this is the first time that WFP is expanding its programme in Nigeria to reach people in towns and cities, where millions of people are threatened with hunger and malnutrition due to the socio-economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, people who earn the least have lost the most as a result of the pandemic. Approximately 90 percent of the population depend on a daily wage to survive, and many of these people live in urban areas.

Consequently, these informal workers have lost up to 80 percent of their earnings. Moreover, with a lack of income and increasing food prices, more and more people are finding it extremely difficult to meet their food needs.

The prices of basic cereals have risen by 15 percent in the last month alone, and the national price of millet, Nigeria’s staple food has doubled over the past year. To cope with hunger, families are being forced to borrow money and food, or sell their remaining assets, plunging them deeper into poverty.

To minimise the risk of exposure to the virus, WFP has arranged for home deliveries of cash and food. In Kano, food will be delivered using the local ‘ke-ke‘ rickshaw service.

In Lagos, WFP is partnering with the State Government to deliver food using boats to reach families living in the riverine community of Makoko.

In the coming weeks and months, WFP will continue to work with the authorities in Abuja and Lagos to support the most vulnerable families.

The WFP Country Director and Representative, Paul Howe noted that the Nigerian Government has demonstrated its unflinching determination to tackle the impact of the pandemic on its citizens.

“Government of Nigeria has shown great commitment and leadership in responding to this crisis. This is exactly what we need during this time of pandemic and beyond to achieve Zero Hunger in Nigeria”, he said.

Speaking in a similar vein, the Governor of Kano Sate, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said the partnership has cushioned the current socio-economic impact of the pandemic on thousands of people in the state.

“This partnership has enabled us to save the lives of thousands of people in Kano State during these difficult times”, he said at a joint press conference on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the distribution of cash and food has began in Kano State to complement the government’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.