From Olukayode Idowu
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has moved to avert food insecurity and malnutrition in the troubled North East region.
Speaking on Saturday in Maiduguri at a stakeholders meeting, the Managing Director of the Commission, Mohammed Alkali said measures have been put in place to avert food insecurity and malnutrition in the North East, disclosing that the measures were adopted at a Stakeholders’ roundtable meeting with humanitarian partners in the region.
Alkali lamented that: “Over 2.6 million people risk facing food crisis in Borno state alone,” stating that the commission has already taken action to respond to threats of food insecurity and malnutrition.
He revealed that the commission is mobilizing resources to stockpile food items and avert looming famine and malnutrition among children in the region.
He said: “With the Cadre Harmonize report and what is being discussed with stakeholders, we’ll identify where the gaps are.
“What kind of food to be stockpiled. We can do so, so that when the incident happens, we pray that it shouldn’t occur.”
He however assured that the commission will be able to respond promptly to save people’s lives.
The Managing Director noted that there is the need for a coordinated approach by all actors in the humanitarianism and development cycle in responding to the needs of Boko Haram victims.
He said that henceforth; a fortnight meeting of the stakeholders will be convened to identify gaps to avoid duplication of responses to IDPs’ needs.
Also speaking, the NEDC Executive Director for Humanitarian Affairs, Musa Yashi said that the stakeholders and humanitarian partners’ meeting was to adopt and implement ways of streamlining the operations of all humanitarian activities.
In their contributions, representatives of State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states and other partners stressed the need for a coordinated meeting to avert food insecurity and malnutrition. They also urged the commission to intervene and provide shelter, livelihood support, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and healthcare to IDP camps and host communities.
