Oxfam collaborates Bauchi govt to develop disaster management framework

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Samuel Luka, Bauchi

Conceened about incidences of flood and other disasters, a Non-Governmental organization, Oxfam has organized a two-day workshop in collaboration with State Emergency Management Agency and State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA), Bauchi to develop a disaster management framework for the state.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the workshop at Chartwell hotel Bauchi on Tuesday, the Country Director of Oxfam in Nigeria, Dr. Vincent Ahonsi said Oxfam which is been funded by Global Affairs Canada has in an effort to reduce the impact of climate change, distributed and planted 30,000 tree seedlings in rural communities in Bauchi as part of its efforts to curb desert encroachment which is at 3Km per annum, soil erosion, wind storms, and deforestation.

Represented by the Project Coordinator of OXFAM LINE project in Bauchi, Mr Samuel Lashom, the country director added that the project has provided to rural households with 240 stoves in order to discouraged the indiscriminate cutting of trees in Tafawa communities as a pilot scheme to reduce the consumption of firewoods.

“Additionally, clean energy-efficient cooking stoves were distributed to households. Women who are significant firewood end-users were encouraged to go green by using less firewood to reduce prevailing deforestation and improve their health, livelihood, and overall well-being.

The country director explained that the project has enjoyed the support of the Bauchi state government through the relevant MDAs, adding that the commitment and tenacity of Oxfam implementing partners are worth mentioning.

The country Director noted that the NGO has been working through the Livelihoods and Nutrition Empowerment Project (LINE) towards improving the livelihoods of over 30,000 rural households in Bauchi state.

According to Dr. Vincent, the project has provided agricultural inputs to over 14,000 smallholder farmers such as maize seeds, sorghum seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.

The country Director added that the beneficiaries have also had their capacity enhanced in farming techniques and new
farming technologies.

Dr. Vincent further explained that so far, the project has distributed over 58 trucks of fertilizers, 28,000 litres of Glyphosate, and
more than 100,000 kgs of improved maize and sorghum seeds.

He also stated that since the commencement of the LINE project in Bauchi state, 96 heavy-duty processing machines have been distributed to beneficiaries for grinding and threshing.

He said, to ensure that more women are directly involved in processing their farm commodities, the project has supported women, primarily youths, with another 120 smaller household-level grinding machines for shared group usage.

Oxfam said it recently introduced dry season farming intervention where farmers were availed an opportunity to cultivate twice a year with over 4000 households beneficiaries in the state.