Palliative Distribution for Cassava and Maize farmers

The Nigerian Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) project aims to protect the livelihoods and food security of poor and vulnerable farmers. Travel restrictions, social distancing, ban on gatherings (including closure of markets), and outright lockdown in some cities are some of the dynamics associated with the advent of COVID – 19 pandemics in Nigeria. With Nigeria on the brink of food crisis, these dynamics threatens the fragile situation and calls for immediate proactive measures to combat the looming crisis. In the light of the above, Oyo State Government constituted the Oyo State Taskforce on Food Security Emergency (subset of the Oyo State COVID19 Taskforce) and saddled them with the responsibility to come up with strategies to managing the impending food security issue in the state as a result of the effects of the COVID – 19 pandemics on the populace. The approaches developed and proposed to the government to implement by the taskforce targets to cushion the effects of the pandemics in the short-term with the long-term goal in view. The first approach will be to develop a palliative strategy that targets the residents of Oyo state who are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic while, the second approach addresses both medium and long term responses to food security emergency through food production, processing to consumption in targeted food crops which includes cassava, yam, maize, cowpea and soybean.