FAO DG To Visit North-east, Chad April 6, 7

The Food and Agricultural Oraganisation (FAO)’s director-general, José Graziano da Silva, will visit communities in Northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin on April 6 and 7 respectively to highlight the need to support local efforts to increase the resilience of people in rural areas whose agriculture-based livelihoods have been hit hard by recurrent crises in the region.
In a statement to LEADERSHIP on Tuesday signed by the FAO’s, National Communication Officer, Emeka Anufuro, it states that “Graziano da Silva is to meet the governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, in Maiduguri, as well as the federal minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on April 7.
It further revealled that Graziano, who will be accompanied by the FAO’s assistant director-general/regional representative for Africa, Bukar Tijani, and strategic programme leader-resilience/director, Emergencies and Rehabilitation division, Dominique Burgeon, will in Maiduguri meet with commissioners of reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement; agriculture and natural resources; animal resources and fisheries development, among others.
He is also scheduled to meet farmers at several FAO-supported farms at Gongulong and Old Maiduguri, near Maiduguri, North East Nigeria.
The statement reads in part that “in northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, violence has driven millions from their homes and hampered access to agricultural lands and assets, creating massive humanitarian needs in an area already struggling with food insecurity, poverty, and environmental degradation. Host communities, in particular, have been struggling for several years now to feed the displaced as well as their own.
“As humanitarian access improves, revealing the magnitude of impact of the conflict, the time has come to support both people who remained in their land and those who decide to return to their original livelihoods.”
The FAO’s long-term strategy for the Lake Chad region puts a special emphasis on supporting refugees, internally displaced families and host communities as these are the most vulnerable groups in this crisis. Interventions are geared to improving their food security and nutrition and building their resilience so that they are better equipped to handle future shocks. In addition, restoring agriculture-based livelihoods will offer a unique opportunity to pave the way to recovery and peace in the affected areas.