• PROJECT BACKGROUND

• • Rationale for the Project

The crisis in Nigeria’s Northeast region is one of the most severe in the world today. The ongoing hostilities have unleashed a multitude of consequences on affected populations, including widespread loss of life, massive population displacement, loss of livelihoods and diminished agricultural production.

Ongoing insecurity, especially in Borno State creates restrictions in movements, affecting producers’ capacity to access farms and transport goods from urban to rural areas; with a consequent effect on the cost of commodities and the ability the populations to engage in livelihood activities.

The development challenges in Borno State are seemed multiple, ranging from political (security, management of uncertainty), socio-economic (Food production and monetary resources, employment); ecological (vulnerability of an ecosystem weakened by drought episodes); hydrological (variability of rainfall and lake water level) and governance (weak State presence and decentralization which makes it difficult to provide basic public services and civil protection expected by the populations).

Action Against Hunger has been operating in Nigeria since 2010 in Jigawa, 2014 in Yobe and 2015 in Borno States of Nigeria congruently responding to both chronic and acute needs through a multi-sector strategy in both humanitarian interventions (Nutrition, Food Security and Livelihoods, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), and now transiting to recovery and building resilience of communities, institutions and individuals most affected by the ongoing hostilities.

Action Against Hunger being the leading organization in a consortium which comprises CARE international, Search For Common Ground and group URD, is implementing resilience activities aimed at improving economic and social inclusion and recovery in the Lake Chad region across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Part of the RESILAC project’s intervention plan includes strengthening of institutional capacities, systems and actions towards sustainable development, social cohesion and economic recovery in Kukawa, Monguno and  Jere LGAs of Borno state.

In Nigeria the RESILAC project is developed along 4 main pillars:

• Strengthening human capital, ensuring social cohesion and supporting conflict transformation;
• Economic Recovery, through support to agricultural value chains and youth employment;
• Enhancing institutional action in project implementation and governance of economic processes;
• Production of useful knowledge for assuring quality project activities in a crises context and to support the decision-making process of the local actors.
• Project Goal

The strengthening or revitalization of information systems aims to provide a holistic response to the accompanying vision of local actors by promoting information that can guide their actions. Information systems involved in sharing knowledge on the evolution of territorial situations useful to different groups (producers, breeders, traders, etc).

For agro-pastoral producers, information sharing is critical as it allows them to make informed choices (planting dates, transhumance period market price and cross boarder market linkages), which is particularly important in a context of strong yearly climate variations. The strengthening of information systems directly foster the improvement and adaptation of agro-pastoral production.

The information system also provides a tool to aid the decision making of national actors involved on local development and emergency response planning. Its improvement will strengthen national capacity and provide policy makers with useful information for the design and implementation of public policies including.

• Information system on agricultural production,
• Weather information system,
• Information system on the evolution of prices of agricultural products,
• Information system on livestock (cattle, epizootic)
• Early warning system and disaster management,
• Early warning system for epidemic-prone diseases,
• Information System on Food Security and Early Warning.

• Geographical scope covered by the analysis

The geographical scope of the assessment is Jere, Monguno and Kukawa LGAs in Borno state

• PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• • Objectives of the Assessment

The specific Objective of the assessment is to provide

• Identify information systems available at the various technical agencies in the state and their areas of coverage.
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the information systems in place.
• Define strategies for improvement on the identified gaps.
• Develop an action plan for developing an easy to handle coordinated information system from government to end users. Considering the local, regional and national level information coordination mechanism, that puts local communities at the center of the information system.