By Muhammad Nasir Bashir
Buji – The Action Against Hunger (AAH), an NGO, says it has disbursed N39 million to 9, 299 expectant mothers in Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa in May.
The Information Officer in charge of the Local Government Council, Alhaji Ali Safiyanu, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Buji on Wednesday.
Safiyanu quoted CDGP’s Programme Coordinator in the area, Malam Abdullahi Muhammad, as disclosing this during a steering committee meeting in Buji.
He said the intervention fund was under AAH’s Child Development Grant Programme (CGDP) to improve their nutritional intake.
The spokesman also quoted the coordinator as saying that the women were paid N3,500 each monthly before, but the NGO increased it to N4,000 due to increase in the cost of food items.
Safiyanu said the programme was being carried out in 91 villages in the area.
NAN reports that the programme was supported by the British Department for International Development (DFID) to control malnutrition, maternal and infant mortality rate at the grassroots.
The programme is being implemented in three selected local government areas of the state; namely Buji, Gagarawa and Kirikassamma.
The registered women had been receiving the monthly stipend under the programme to improve their nutritional intake.
It provides unconditional monthly cash transfers of N4,000 to screened pregnant women through their pregnancy period and until the child reaches the age of two.
The cash assistance is to assist the beneficiaries feed well; cater for their pregnancy and the child after birth, to reduce the rate of maternal mortality.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Hashimu Ahmad, commended the NGO for the gesture, noting that it will help in enhancing healthcare delivery in the area.
Ahmad also commended the NGO for extending the programme from 2018 to 2019.
