A report by food security stakeholders has projected that about 4.8 million Nigerians may face critical food insecurity situations in 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) next year.
The report title: “Cadre Harmonise” for identification of risk areas and vulnerable populations in sixteen states and Federal Capital Territory explained that between October-December 2017, about 3.1 million people face food crisis.
Analysing the report at in a stakeholder meeting yesterday in Abuja, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative, Sufyyan Koroma, said it has become necessary to provide reliable data on food security status in 16 states and FCT.
Represented by Patrick David of the FAO, he called on the Federal Government to strengthen and institutionalize the collection of data on food and nutrition in the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Bukar Hassan, stated that the report will assist government to take the necessary steps to address food crisis and emergency situation in the country.
He stressed that government was working hard to ensure that agricultural activities return fully to the north-east states affected by the insurgency.
The states affected by food and nutrition insecurity are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara and the FCT.
The report was put together by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) and other donor agencies.
