The Oxfam in Nigeria has said that 70 rural communities and 8,000 rural households in Adamawa and Kebbi states have escaped the shame of hunger and destitute under its Pro Silence Action (PROACT) project. The four-year food security project which according to Oxfam has gulped €11m was meant to build the resilience of communities affected by the Book Haram insurgency and the effects of climate change in the two states.

The Oxfam in Nigeria Country Director, Mr. Constant Tchona, said this yesterday in Abuja at a press conference on World Environment Day and Oxfam’s interventions in Nigeria. The briefing was jointly organised with Development Exchange Center and CRUDAN. He said the project started in April 2016 and would end in April 2020.

“PROACT has built 350 community food reserves and they are all functioning. More than 8,000 rural households escaped the shame of hunger and were able to sustain their livelihood activities without having to use any negative coping strategy as PROACT provided support during the hunger season of June-September, 2018. “The more than 8,000 households received the social protection of food aid, over 1,400 metric tons of food commodities distributed on loan basis to households across 70 rural communities,” Tchona said. On this year’s World Environment Day with the theme, “We Can’t Stop Breathing, but We Can Do Something About the Quality of Air Breathe”, Tchona lamented that the quality of air that Nigeria breathe in is bad. He said, “The quality of air we breathe in Nigeria is bad. Look at the air pollution in Nigeria, look at the refuse burning; the about 12 million cars on our roads; the more than 60 million generators in our markets and homes. Research shows that more than 114,000 people died from air pollution in Nigeria in 2017.” Tchona said that Oxfam in Nigeria with support of European Union (EU) planted over 400,000 tress under PROACT project in Adamawa and Kebbi state and over seven million tress in Kastina through the Fuel Wood Balance (FUWOBA) project. He therefore urged the Federal and state governments, donors, the private sector, non-governmental organisation to put resources and effort together to beat air pollution while Oxfam also launched ‘one person for tree campaign’ (OP4T-Campaign) as part of effort to beat air pollution. According to him, Nigeria lost over 114,000 people to air pollution in 2017. “We have produced the clean cookstove known as the Dadinkowa stove that reduces firewood usage by over 50 percent,” he said.

SOURCE:DAILY TRUST