We Can’t Successfully Fight Poverty, Hunger Without Needs Assessment

THE dream of eradicating poverty and hunger, according to the Founder and Executive Director of PROMAD, Daisi Omokungbe, will continue to be a mirage pending when needs assessment is given due consideration.

Identifying the practice of making the government’s yearly budget without quality needs assessment to harness citizens’ voices, as major factors responsible for high rate of poverty in Nigeria, the need for those in position of authority to fashion out plans that will encourage needs assessment in both public and private sectors has become necessary.

This, he made known, yesterday, in a statement, , while reacting to this year’s Multidimensional Poverty Index ( MPI) report by the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS).

NBS recent report indicates that there are 133 million Nigerians who are dimensionally poor. A figure that the organization ( NBS) said represents 63 percent of the country’s population.

Disturbed by the statistics, Omokungbe, said: “Apparent lack of water, sanitation and hygiene ( WASH), health care, food security and housing, among others, are all pieces of evidence that the governments’ budgets, both at the national and sub- national levels, over the years, have not been meeting the needs of the masses at the grassroots and urban cities. ”