FAQs: Federal Government Grain Distribution Programme in the North East

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What is the Federal Government Grain Distribution Programme?
This is a new initiative of the Federal Government that aims to distribute food to 1.8m persons affected by insurgency in the North East.
Who’ll be involved in the distribution?
The distribution will be carried out on behalf of the Federal Government by officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in partnership with State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) and International Humanitarian Agencies.
NEMA has assured that it is taking all the measures necessary to ensure transparent and equitable distribution of the grain.
How much food will be distributed?
The total amount of food to be distributed in the first phase being flagged off by Acting President Osinbajo on June 8, 2017 is 30,000 metric tonnes — comprising Maize, Sorghum and Soyabeans, grown locally by Nigerian farmers and purchased from Nigerian companies.
Where will the food come from?
The Federal Government will buy the grain to be distributed from local farmers and suppliers. The grains will be sourced from Ibadan, Funtua, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe and will be conveyed — mainly by road— to IDPs (in camps and host communities) in Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe, Bauchi and Gombe. A total of 1,032 trucks were involved in the first phase of the Distribution, which will be flagged off by Acting President on Thursday June 8, 2017, in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Why is the Federal Government distributing 30,000 metric tonnes?
The volume of grain is based on a computation arrived at by NEMA which translates to giving each household 50kg of grain a month.
How will the consignments of grain be secured, to avoid diversion or theft as in the past?
The Nigeria Police Force and Armed Forces (Joint Task Force — Army, Navy and Air Force) will provide security and logistical support.
Each convoy of 10 trucks will be accompanied by two police escorts, travelling between cities. For locations that are difficult to reach, the Nigeria Air Force will airlift the food.
How will the food get to the people in need of it?
The Programme will use a voucher-based system to ensure that the food is distributed door-to-door — guaranteeing orderliness and transparency — instead of having the beneficiaries queue in long and unwieldy lines.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA): “Each household beneficiary would be issued with a voucher, which will be redeemed at the receipt of the household allocation of the food basket.”
This voucher system will ensure that all the food gets to intended beneficiaries, and that all those who receive assistance are accounted for.