Path to self-reliance: Japan-IITA project empowers IDPs through agriculture and employment opportunities

The Government of Japan, in collaboration with IITA, has initiated a project to assist internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Abuja in achieving self-reliance and generating employment opportunities. IDPs continue to receive emergency humanitarian assistance to feed themselves for the year, and it has been more than ten years since they could start a new, independent life. On the other hand, the lack of employment opportunities and sources of income, and their continued dependence on assistance for their livelihoods, has led to a loss of independence and the need for measures to support self-reliance.

To overcome the IDP situation, the project supports employment opportunities for IDPs without job opportunities. The project has established a labor dispatch union, which sends IDPs as temporary workers to farmers facing labor shortages. The activities provide IDPs with cash income through agricultural work and meals during deployment. From June to October 2024, IDPs were sent to farmers as temporary workers and received assistance with meals during their deployment and a cash income.

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