Pressure is mounting on rural communities hosting displaced
people affected by the Boko Haram terrorism activities over palpable extension
of the attacks on them, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This alarm is coming from the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) which lamented that three consecutive planting seasons have
been lost due to the fighting in northeastern Nigeria.
The United Nation’s agency stressed that large influxes of
people escaping repeated Boko Haram attacks have put extreme pressure on
already poor and vulnerable host communities and their fragile agricultural and
pastoral livelihoods, thereby exacerbating the already precarious food and
nutrition security situation.
FAO cautioned that failure to rebuild the rural economy will
translate into lack of employment opportunities with possible harmful
consequences including youth radicalization and enrolment into armed groups,
resulting in continued civil unrest.
Similarly, FAO said, restarting food production in the newly
accessible areas will have the additional benefits of encouraging displaced
populations to return to their homes, while contributing to their improved
health and nutrition, hence, it recently commenced seeking of assistance in
that regard.
NaijaAgroNet recalls that in northeastern Nigeria, FAO has
provided agricultural kits to vulnerable internally displaced people with
access to land and host families.
These kits included improved varieties of millet or sorghum
and cowpea seeds - a locally adapted and highly nutritious pulse - and
fertilizers, enabling beneficiaries to grow their own food during the ongoing
rain-fed season. The harvest is expected to start by the end of September and
will allow beneficiaries to cover their food needs for up to 10 months.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology