World Bank donates $500m for food, livelihood project in N’East

The National Project Coordinator, Fadama III Additional Financing (AF), Mr. Tayo Adewumi, said that the World Bank has donated $500 million for its North East Food and Livelihood Support Project.

Adewumi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that the project would assist displaced persons from the north eastern part of the country that were affected by insurgency to return to normal life.

“The project by the World Bank is aimed at supporting the intention of the Federal Government to deal with the situation in the North East, through food security and livelihood. The project will help those who lost their livelihood from the Boko Haram insurgency and continued clashes between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers.

“The Federal Government in 2015 launched a project to support their livelihood and bring back the displaced people to reunite with their family members.”

According to him, the outcome of that launch is how to restore their livelihood through agriculture.

“So, the project is an emergency one and we need to start it early to support the Federal Government’s agenda on bringing peace to the affected states,” he said.

He said that the states that would benefit from the project are Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe.

Adewumi added that: “We want to compliment government’s efforts by encouraging most of them into farming by providing fund and inputs such as fertilizer and improved seeds to boost their production.

“President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, recently to make sure that all IDPs return to farming. This is a matching order on our honourable minister.