Following the impact of floods in several states in the country, the Nigerian Government has received a donation of $249m (N109.3bn) to tackle the natural disaster. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mahmood Abubakar, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said the African Development Bank (AfDB) donated $244m and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) donated $5m to the federal government to mitigate flood impact and increase food production in the country.
Abubakar said the government has begun the construction of mini-earth dams to reduce the mitigation of the impact of flood disasters in Nigeria.
The minister added that the government is currently restocking the country’s strategic food reserves with 200,000 metric tonnes of assorted commodities.
He said the devastating impact, damage, and loss of lives and property due to floods were becoming an annual event in many parts of Nigeria.
Abubakar said, “to guide its interventions, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies carried out the 2022 wet season Agricultural Performance Survey across the country.”
He explained that this was to provide empirical data to support the amelioration of the adverse effects of floods and ensure increased food production in Nigeria.
