FG Inaugurates Food, Nutrition Support Distribution in Niger

Politics

The Federal Government has inaugurated distribution of food and nutrition support items in Niger under the Presidential Initiative for Food and Nutrition Assistance in Niger.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said the intervention was designed to support vulnerable households and reinforce food security in the state.

Doro, in a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information, Chinyere Ulasi, on Sunday in Abuja, said the initiative aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“It ensures that food security, poverty reduction, and social protection remain central to governance and let me state clearly that no vulnerable Nigerian will be left behind.

“However, beyond immediate relief, we are driving a deeper reform of Nigeria’s humanitarian and poverty-reduction architecture.

“In line with this reform, the federal government is currently expanding and strengthening the National Social Register (NSR).

“This is to ensure that vulnerable households across the country are properly identified, documented, and integrated into structured social protection system,” he said.

He said the ministry would collaborate with the Niger State Government to ensure affected residents were captured in the ongoing National Social Register expansion.

According to him, beneficiaries captured in the register will become eligible for various federal government social protection and poverty reduction programmes.

“This represents a critical shift; from emergency response alone to a continuum of support that connects relief, recovery, resilience, and poverty exit,” Doro said.

He described the distribution as deliberate, targeted and data-driven to cushion food insecurity and prevent malnutrition among children under five and pregnant women.

The minister added that the programme would also support displaced and conflict-affected households and stabilise vulnerable communities.

“The food and nutrition items have been carefully structured to address both caloric sufficiency and essential micronutrient needs, protecting not only lives, but also long-term human capital.

“We recognise the profound impact that had on households, farmlands, infrastructure, and livelihoods across several communities in the state.

“I want to assure the government and people of Niger State that my ministry is working closely with the presidency to ensure that such devastating occurrences are better anticipated, mitigated, and managed going forward.

“In this regard, the Ministry is currently collaborating with the presidency and relevant national stakeholders to develop the 2026 National Anticipatory Action Framework and Financing Instrument,” Doro said.

He noted that Niger, the largest state by landmass, occupied a strategic position in the nation’s development framework.

The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Olubunmi Olusanya, said the event demonstrated government’s commitment to emergency food assistance and improved nutrition.

Gov. Umaro Bago of Niger described the inauguration as significant and appreciated the federal hovernment’s interventions in the state.

Bago said spillover from banditry and extremist activities in the North-West had worsened humanitarian challenges, with many families displaced.

He called for collaboration with donor agencies to enrol displaced children in schools to counter extremist ideologies. (NAN).