BY INUSA NDAHI, MAIDUGURI
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has distributed seeds to over 80,000 families affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence across Nigeria in anticipation of the 2019 planting season.
Maize, millet, rice, cowpea, hibiscus, sesame and vegetable seeds were given to the families depending on the type of farming practiced in the different regions.
This was disclosed by the Communication Officer of the ICRC, Eleojo Esther in a press statement on Friday.
The most vulnerable among them she said, also received cash to buy food, farming tools and other agricultural inputs. Those without a direct access to markets received the food and tools instead of cash. The food is meant to encourage them to plant the seeds instead of consuming or selling them.
“By giving cash at the same time, it allows farmers to both prepare the land, potentially purchase tools as well as the fertilizer and to buy food items in order to support their families and communities,” Esther quoted Jane Clarke, who is head of ICRC operations in Adamawa state.
The distributions, which began in March and was carried out with the help of the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS): It covered nine states – Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Plateau, Kaduna, Nassarawa, Benue and Cross River.
“The things we received today…they will help us more and more” said Boyomoso Eli, a resident of Wuro Dadi village in Adamawa state, Nigeria.
Humanitarian figures indicate that more than 7.1 million people in Nigeria need life-saving assistance.
The bulk of whom reside in the northeast where a protracted conflict between the government and armed opposition groups continues to play out.