The Federal Government and the World Food Programme are jointly distributing cash and food items worth about $4m to vulnerable households in urban centres to cushion the harsh effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on beneficiaries of the intervention.
WFP Representative in Nigeria, Dr Paul Howe, said on Friday in Abuja that his agency was injecting a total of $3m into the local economies of three urban hotspots in Abuja, Kano and Lagos.
He further stated that the Federal Government was providing food from the national strategic grains reserve, a contribution worth over $1m for the intervention in urban hotspots in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
Howe, who disclosed this during the distribution of cash and food items to beneficiaries in Karmajiji, a suburb in Abuja, stated that the Federal Government and WFP were providing assistance in three council areas of the Federal Capital Territory.
“WFP plans to reach some 67,500 beneficiaries in Abuja under this intervention programme. So far, WFP has already served over 57,000 individuals,” he stated.
He acknowledged the contribution of the government of Switzerland, as the nation had been a key contributor to the funding of the project.
He said WFP’s injection of cash into the economy was in two folds, as the first was via cash based transfers.
