NORTHEAST NIGERIA JOINT LIVELIHOOD AND MARKET RECOVERY ASSESSMENT

Picture
Author(s): KARRI GOELDNER BYRNE; PATRICK OYOO; ANOUSHKA BOODHNA
Organization(s): MERCY CORPS (IN CONJUNCTION WITH ACTION AGAINST HUNGER, COOPERAZIONE INTERNATIONAL, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICE, OXFAM)
Institution(s): USAID OFFICE FOR FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE
​Date Published: OCTOBER 31, 2017

​Description: The document, a culmination of ten months of data collection research and interviews, provides an better understanding of market dynamics and agricultural production in Northeast Nigeria. The publication identifies pathways for more effective support of early recovery efforts in a region experiencing a protracted and complex humanitarian crisis. 

The six INGOs undertook the assessment across the three most affected States in Northeast Nigeria: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, to better understand post-insurgency livelihoods and market recovery strategies and identifying opportunities for future market systems programming in conflict-affected areas. By interviewing farmers, trade and producer associations, input suppliers and distributors, banks, financial services providers, humanitarian and development agencies and government bodies, the Assessment highlights means for more effective support at multiple levels: from policy formulation, to marketplace restoration, to what tools or seeds farmers should be provided with. While the farmers, traders and agriculture input suppliers interviewed as part of the assessment are the recommended entry points for potential interventions, the LMRA places gender, sex and age differentiations at the heart of its analysis, and emphasises their important-if not often ignores-role in the market and any corresponding intervention. 

31 recommendations have been provided in the report and are intended to be applied across four market systems: cereals, pulses, vegetables and agriculture inputs. Mercy Corps and the five partners to the Assessment feel that these recommendations will result in more nuanced and complex programming in the context of a protracted crisis where humanitarian response remains essential with a focus on transitioning populations into early recovery where markets are sustainable.