Enhancing Food Security in Northern Nigeria/Early Recovery of Flood Affected Families with Children Like the country’s diverging political landscape, humanitarian crises in Nigeria tend to take a north-south dichotomy. While flooding is heavily occasioned in the southern parts of the country, the northern states that lie across the Sahel belt are extremely prone to persistent droughts. Since early July to as late November, there has been heavy flooding in southern Nigeria resulting to monumental destruction of life and property affecting 35 out of 37 states of the federation of Nigeria. Flooding in Nigeria is a major environmental challenge that often has devastating effects on human livelihoods. The implications of flooding in Nigerian cities and communities include among others; loss of life and property, spread of diseases, and loss of livelihoods, assets and infrastructure. The impact of floods is usually more pronounced in low-lying cities in the south due to the large populations living in poorly planned settlements with minimal drainage infrastructure. Flooding impact is also exacerbated by inadequate preparedness. Over one million persons have been displaced as a result of the flood The lead government agency saddled with the responsibility of managing emergencies and disasters, NEMA, has been in collaboration with both international and local humanitarian organizations under the platform of the Inter Agency Emergency Preparedness and Response Working Group (IA-EPRWG), of which Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN) is an active member. The flooding has receded and the humanitarian response to the crisis has abated the situation although affected communities and households are still trying to cope.     

On the pther hand, there are seven states in Northern Nigeria along the Sahel (Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno) with approximately a population of 28 million people that have been seriously affected by interment and sometimes persistent drought, culminating in extreme food insecurity. Preliminary results show that 47% of households are vulnerable (determined by Food Security Assessment conducted in March 2012 by Save the Children UK) and 17% of children under-five are at risk of malnutrition. These results suggest there may be up to 13 million food deficit vulnerable people; among the 13 million are 2.2 million children who are at risk of malnutrition of which 1.3 million children are severely malnourished (UNICEF). Households’ lives are at risk because they are unable to meet their daily 2,100 Kcal food needs, and are using strategies that will put their livelihoods at risk in the longer term (selling their livestock and assets). According to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), USAID Food Security Categorisation the affected households are in phase 3, depicting crisis. The assessment indicated that 47% very poor households and 30% poor households were not food secure except for first 3-6 months post-harvest on the average, confirming the general perception and other studies (UNICEF SMART survey February 2012, ACF Integrated Assessment Aug 2011). States covered are generally food deficit and these households may be in food crisis category. According to results from Save the Children Assessment in March 2012, very poor and poor households have deficits with regard to their survival and livelihood protection thresholds. The very poor households have a 6% survival food deficit  and a 23% livelihood protection gap , while the poor households have no survival deficits but have a 22% livelihood protection gap.
 
Caritas Nigeria therefore seeks to support 2,000 of the most severely affected families (about 14,000 persons). The Caritas intervention will be focused on ten selected communities in local government areas with the most vulnerability and low coping mechanism along the (Sahel) border of Nigeria, based on the findings from the CRS/CCFN food security assessment. This project will run for a period of five months which will cover the three months of the most acute hunger season until the harvest. The harvest is expected to be poor as some farmers have planted between 3-4 times this year and the crops either withered or have stunted growth due to lack of rain. The project will therefore provide an additional two months buffer of assistance after the harvest. This will allow households to reserve some barn stocks for the next planting season. The support to households also includes basic information on nutrition, hygiene and sanitation practices that can maximize their resources for well-being.