Northeast Nigeria joint livelihoods and market recovery assessment

Mercy Corps Nigeria, in conjunction with Action Against Hunger, Cooperazione Internazionale, Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee and Oxfam undertook the assessment across the three most affected states in Northeast Nigeria; Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, to better understand post-insurgency livelihood and market recovery strategies and identify opportunities for future market system programming in conflict-affected areas. By interviewing farmers, traders, trade and producer associations, input suppliers and distributors, banks, financial services providers, humanitarian and development agencies and government bodies, this 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 LRMA places gender, sex and age differentiations at the heart of its analysis, and emphasizes their important – if often ignored – role in the market and in 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 feels 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.

Thanks to the ongoing financial support from the USAID Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance, Mercy Corps Nigeria and partners are able to present this timely and considered Assessment.