The report noted that the food crisis will affect Nigerians in 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including 416,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
As part of its Hunger Crisis Appeal project, the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has distributed cash to 30,000 people in 5,000 households who are reportedly facing acute hunger in the North-west and North-central regions of the federation.
The intervention, which is in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has concluded the second round of cash distribution in seven states: Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, Nasarawa and Benue.
In a press statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, the society said it planned to reach 200,000 more people who are in "dire need of humanitarian support and facing food insecurity due to a combination of climate change, conflicts and COVID-19."
Speaking on the intervention, the secretary-general of NRCS, Abubakar Kende, said: "The situation is critical and is one that needs immediate attention. Millions are being affected, particularly women, the elderly, and vulnerable children.
"A good number of them are now in a situation where they do not know where their next meal will come from, and this is something that concerns us greatly.
"We are grateful to our funding partners; the American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross and Netherlands Red Cross, who have gone ahead to provide the needed resources to reach the most vulnerable people in 7 states. However, more support is still required as the funding gap is still huge vis-à-vis the needs."
War against hunger
The NRCS also stated that it is taking action to fight hunger in the selected northern regions specifically because the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) estimated that about 19.4 million people in the regions will be facing acute hunger between June and August 2022.
The UNFAO report which was released in March 2022, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development -FMARD and other stakeholders, analyses acute food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel and West African region.
The report noted that the food crisis will affect Nigerians in 21 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including 416,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
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It added that about 14.4 million people including 385,000 IDPs in 21 States and FCT of Nigeria are already in the food crisis as of May 2022.
More intervention
As part of the measures to fight hunger, the NRSC disclosed that it has decided to make Mothers Club an integral part of the Hunger Crisis Emergency Appeal to teach mothers in local communities how to ensure proper nutrition for their children to reduce child mortality, prevent acute malnutrition.
"We know that if mothers have better information, it will lead to healthier children and a better society, that is why we have set up 140 Mothers Clubs in the 7 states. We are working closely with the Federal Ministry of Health on this," says the NRSC Coordinator, Health and Care, Manir Jega.
He added that the red cross society launched a 4.1million Swiss Francs Emergency Appeal in 2021 and is in the process of revising it upwards to meet the growing needs on the ground but funding requirement has been a challenge due to the crisis in Ukraine.
