ActionAid has called for the collaboration of the global community to support the recharging of Lake Chad Basin to address the plight of people displaced due to the reduction of the lake.

Andrew Mamedu, ActionAid country director, made the appeal at the commemoration of World Food Day on Monday in Abuja. World Food Day is observed annually on October 16.

He said the global community could come together to support the recharging of the lake. Mr Mamedu, who said Lake Chad Basin has been reduced by 90 per cent, added that recharging it would affect 30 to 50 million people displaced.

According to him, two-thirds of the Nigerian population do not have access to potable water, and many things need to be done at local, community and national levels.

He said, “These are the global actions we are pushing for, and we will join the ministries of agriculture and food security and that of water resources, keep collaborating to push for issues of right to food and water. We work with the community, working with partners like Oxfam and other organisations to do this, working side by side with the ministry to ensure that food is guaranteed in Nigeria.

“We believe that at the end of the day, the government pays more attention to delivering food security to its citizenry, which is a right as signed into law.”

(NAN)