Norway Contributes $4.5M To Address Food and Humanitarian Challenges in Nigeria
National vector fabric wave flags of Norway and Nigeria isolated on white background. 1 to 2 proportion.
In order to assist the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in resolving the ongoing situation in Nigeria’s North-East, Norway has pledged an additional $4.5 million.
During the signing of a memorandum of understanding ceremony between the UN organization and Norway in Abuja, Fred Kafeero, the FAO Representative in Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), made a statement.
According to Mr. Kafeero, Norway has provided support totaling $24 million since the start of the crisis, reaching approximately 1,198,077 conflict-affected individuals as of this writing and continuing going.
He claims that Norway has been helping the most vulnerable populations in the North-East impacted by the more than ten-year conflict restore their lives and livelihoods since 2017.
Mr. Kafeero stated that FAO, a significant supplier of livelihood support in the food security sector, has set a target of reaching two million people for the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
Only 56,000 people, according to him, have been reached so far.
Additionally, according to an examination of funding trends, just 3.4 out of every 100 units of funding overall supplied to the food security sector are used for livelihood interventions, according to Mr. Kafeero.
According to him, the “addendum for a complementary fund for 2023 is deemed more than important, not only because it symbolizes the ongoing and successful partnership and collaboration between the Government of Norway and FAO in Nigeria, but also because it will help close the funding gap for livelihoods for the lean season in 2023.”
While the financing is helping to improve food security in the North East, Mr. Kafeero continued, “There is still a huge gap in meeting the needs of the 3.7 million people who need assistance with their means of subsistence.”
Knut Eiliv Lein, Norway’s ambassador to Nigeria, stated that the government’s $4.5 million additional funding commitment was intended to support agriculture and those affected by the war.
“We had a three-year programme with the FAO that we renewed for another three years last year, and we increased funding to four and half million dollars,” Mr. Lein added.
The financial assistance will be used to carry out a current project that aims to improve food security, nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and Taraba.
