Opening remarks at Dissemination workshop on Impact of Fadama III–AF II on Food Security and Livelihood Restoration in Northeastern Nigeria. Presented by Kwaw Andam on behalf of IFPRI Nigeria office

Kwaw Andam

     Good morning, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to offer a few welcome remarks on behalf of the Nigeria office of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Here in Nigeria, the Nigeria Strategy Support Program (NSSP) is a research, communication, and capacity strengthening program geared towards strengthening evidence-based policymaking for enhanced rural and agricultural development. Since 2007 when the program started, we have worked closely with partners including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), state ministries of agriculture, and Nigerian research institutes.

·         As an international agricultural research institute focused on policy issues, IFPRI’s mission is to generate sustainable solutions for reducing poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition in the world. These weighty issues – poverty, hunger, malnutrition – are unfortunately present in the environment created by the instability and insurgency in northeastern Nigeria. The seemingly intractable conflict has caused loss of life, displacement of communities, deprivation, and loss of resources. Obviously, this conflict directly affects the economic growth of Nigeria on the macro level, with direct economic losses, and indirect effects such as loss of investor confidence because of perceived risks of doing business. Every day that we hear in the news about insurgency or killings in northeastern Nigeria is a day that a dollar of investment may skip Nigeria for some other location.

·         The conflict also, of course, directly affects the individuals and communities that live in the region. Most rural people are engaged in agriculture. It is difficult to farm even in peacetime, due to soil degradation, inadequate technology, and missing markets. It is even more difficult to farm when you and your neighbors and customers are being displaced by conflict. A recent study showed that economic losses due to displacement alone was US$450 million in 2015 or 5.7% of the Northeastern Nigerian GDP (UNHCR and World Bank 2016).

·         Thus far the bad news. But this is where Fadama comes in, and this is where we see some good news. The Fadama projects that have been implemented by the Government of Nigeria for more than a quarter of a century now, have undoubtedly brought relief to many people in northeastern Nigeria. While our focus today is on the Fadama III – Additional Financing (AF) II project, it is worth noting that the awkward acronym is the result of earlier rounds of interventions under the Fadama approach, which have resulted in positive impacts in terms of food and nutrition security, jobs and incomes, and importantly, public goods such as infrastructure.The Fadama projects have become well-known both within and outside Nigeria because of these impacts. It is also important to note that these impacts would not have come to light without the hard work of applying a rigorous approach – interviews, data collection, and analysis – to evaluate the interventions.

·         IFPRI is proud of the achievements of the Government and people of Nigeria through the Fadama projects, and proud to have played a part in measuring and reporting this success through the work of Dr. Ephraim Nkonya and his team, a team which includes IFPRI researchers in Nigeria and outside Nigeria, and collaborators from Nigerian institutions. This is a real example of sustained team-work and institutional collaboration, spanning 12 years and resulting in many useful outputs.The Fadama impact assessment is one of the IFPRI’ success stories that will be featured in a forthcoming publication IFPRI Making a Difference. In this pubication, it is reported that IFPRI’s evaluation of Fadama II provided substantial evidence to support expansion of the program. Fadama III benefited 965,000 households, or about 4.8 million poor people. We at IFPRI are happy to be part of the Fadama success story.

·         As we gather today to disseminate the findings from the evaluation of the latest Fadama project, I hope we will also use this as a starting point for planning for the future. The project note tells us that while the Fadama project has been successful, many more people who need assistance in the region have not yet benefited.May we take the lessons learned to reach the remaining 90 percent plus, to improve food and nutrition security of the people of the northeastern region and Nigeria as a whole. Thank you.