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ARISE Food Distribution Programme

ARISE Food Distribution Programme across all 31 LGAs. Bags of food are unloaded from a truck of the Akwa Ibom State Bulk Purchase Agency.

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Food, health and careAkwa Ibom, statewide

Key figures

31LGAs covered

Akwa Ibom State Bulk Purchase Agency, with the Ministry of Humanitarian AffairsAgency

26 March 2024 at Itam Market, Itu LGA, through a free food voucher schemeLaunch

Rice, beans and garriItems

Vulnerable households on the State Social Register, including widows, elderly people and persons with disabilitiesWho qualifies

217,000 bags of rice and beansGrains set aside

Over 650,000 by mid 2026Households reached

About the programme

The ARISE Food Distribution Programme is a free food scheme of the Akwa Ibom State Government under Governor Umo Eno. It gives staple food to poor and vulnerable households in all 31 Local Government Areas of the state. Rice, beans and garri are handed out at no cost.

The programme is run by the Akwa Ibom State Bulk Purchase Agency, working with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. The agency was set up by a law signed in March 2024, and its board was inaugurated by the Governor. The scheme was first planned as subsidised sales, but the Governor made it free. It was launched on 26 March 2024 at Itam Market in Itu LGA, and council chairmen were directed to roll it out in every LGA.

Beneficiaries are drawn from the State Social Register. In the first phase, ward officials checked names on the register and gave out vouchers, which people redeemed for rice, beans and garri. Later phases have used trucks that move from one LGA to another, with bags handed out at council headquarters to people from every ward. Widows, elderly people and persons with disabilities are among those targeted. The state set aside 217,000 bags of rice and beans for the programme, and over 650,000 households had benefited by mid 2026.

The programme is meant to ease the burden of rising food prices and keep vulnerable families fed while the state encourages people to return to farming. It forms part of the food security and welfare goals of the ARISE Agenda.

Photographs

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Governor Umo Eno

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