To improve the agricultural resilience, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic have collectively invested €100 million on small-scale food producers in the Sahel region.
The essence of this project is to fight against desertification, land degradation, landscape and watershed management through participatory planning to effectively enriched the soil, water and biodiversity.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2023, stated that Nigerians are likely to face food crisis by June, August 2024 with Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto and Federal Capital Territory standing at a bigger risk. The FAO country representative, Dominique Kouacou laid the blame on insurgency, banditry, natural resources based conflicts leading to high costs of food and agricultural inputs.
The €100 million budget was divided among the four countries, with Nigeria investing €40 million, and Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger Republic investing €20 million each. The small-scale farmers, women, and youths will be trained to enhance their agricultural practices.
The programme will also bring in more donor communities to explore opportunities to boost funding through investments and larger programs like loans from the World Bank that will benefit the broader regional and international community according to Bidjokazo Fofana, the International Fertilizer Development Centre’s Programme Director.
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