The United Nations agency known as Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) has drummed fiscal support worth $4.9m, about N1,569,225,000
billion for its programme in northeast Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This is coming as FAO informed NaijaAgroNet that the fund so
far was contributed from its internal special emergency fund alongside the
Japan, Belgium, the European Commission (ECHO) and the United Nations Central
Emergency Fund (CERF).
The agency also said its currently targeting an additional
85,000 people with horticulture packages to prepare for the upcoming irrigated
season.
FAO's Emergency and Response Manager in Nigeria, Mr. Tim
Vaessen, lamented that by growing their own healthy and nutritious food would
reduce need for future external food assistance.
“Families who have access to land and are ready to farm can
harvest in six to eight weeks," Vaessen said.
FAO's activities in Nigeria, he said, remained constrained
by a serious lack of funding, but pointed out that till-date, FAO has received
just $ 4.9 million, of which almost 20 per cent came from FAO's own Special
Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities.
Ugo Nwocha/GEE
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