The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, has said that about $250 million is needed to address the food crisis in insurgency affected states of the North East.
Kallon made this known Thursday in an interview with newsmen in Maiduguri while speaking on his four-day tour of the affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
Kallon said over four million people were in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in the affected states.
“Hunger is on the rise worldwide. The combination of conflict, COVID-19, increased food prices and the effects of climate change are decimating livelihoods and people’s access to food.
”Across the world, high levels of food insecurity are in danger of deteriorating into catastrophic conditions, unless this is urgently addressed. Millions of people are at risk.
“In North-East Nigeria, the outlook is dire. Without sustained humanitarian assistance in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, millions will struggle to feed themselves during this critical 2021 lean season.
“According to the March 2021 Cadre Harmonisé food security assessment, an estimated 4.4 million people, including internally displaced people, are expected to face critical food shortages.
”Some 775,000 people are at extreme risk of catastrophic food insecurity—the worst outlook in 4 years.
“The humanitarian community, the United Nations and non-governmental organisations, have joined efforts to address the rapidly deteriorating food insecurity situation in the north-east, working closely with the Government of Nigeria at Federal and State levels.
“The humanitarian community is deeply concerned by the alarming food insecurity in North-East Nigeria. Levels of food insecurity today are similar to 2016-17, when the crisis was at its worst.
“The U.N. and its non-governmental partners are working with the government to respond to this growing threat of catastrophic food insecurity,” Kallon said.
He observed that the situation may likely worsen as the rainy season sets in, and if diseases like cholera and malaria were not prevented or controlled, though G-7 countries had recently given their commitment to assist and the UN would follow up for results.
“We have been able to avert catastrophic food insecurity in the past by working together, and we can do it again given the resources required.
“We are grateful to our donors and partners for their generous support. Our operational plan sets out the requirement of USD$250 million for immediate action. We desperately need the funding now to urgently save lives,” Kallon said.
While in Maiduguri, Kallon addressed participants at the 20th edition of Joint Planning Board and National Council on Development Planning meeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Borno government.
