Far North Region: Gov’t hails WFP’s brilliant implementation of PULCCA-funded projects to build resilience.

The positive remarks were made by the Governor of the Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakari, on December 10, 2025. He was speaking during a field visit to PULCCA project which WFP as one of the implementing partners is executing to enable beneficiary populations strengthen their autonomy and better cope with the challenges of food insecurity.

Governor Midjiyawa was accompanied to the field visit by local administrative, municipal, traditional, educational authorities as well as local community leaders. 

The visit took the Governor and his delegation to the Biskavaye Government Primary School in the Mayo Tsanaga Division, where the WFP has through the PULCCA project, built a school canteen on local meals.

The delegation also visited the Labour-Intensive Public Works, THIMO, still in the administrative unit where WFP through PULCCA provides cash transfers to vulnerable communities in exchange for their participation in projects that build or rehabilitate community assets with goal to improve living conditions, strengthen socio-economic resilience, and promote sustainable development.

The Governor expressed satisfaction with the tangible effects of the PULCCA interventions. He praised the commitment of the technical partners and community actors who contributed to the realization of the projects.

“This project of capital importance is a public-private partnership that has many benefits. Firstly, because it helps to combat unemployment. Secondly, it allows for the cultivation of all the crops that did not exist before and which are now part of the local diet…it is a kind of chain to feed the pupils through the school canteen,” the Governor stated. 

Enter WFP Head of Programme 

The Head of Programme at WFP, Aladji Ibrahima Hamadou, on behalf of WFP Representative and Country Director, Gianluca Ferrera, said the visit was an opportunity to, together with partners, review the results of the PULCCA project, which WFP is proud to be one of the implementing partners. 

He said in the Far North Region, WFP carries out several complementary activities including emergency interventions to support populations affected by floods, resilience actions to support small-scale producers, nutrition programs, labour-intensive works, and school canteens, which constitute a veritable ecosystem promoting nutrition, participation, and school retention. 

The school feeding programme, Hamadou said, is not limited to feeding children but it improves their learning conditions, increases their attendance and success, while stimulating the local economy through small producers organised into two cooperatives that supply food. 

“In this way, we create a virtuous circle where education, nutrition, and community development reinforce each other,” the WFP Head of Programme stated. 

Hamadou disclosed that over 90,000 beneficiaries have been assisted in the two years of the project's implementation.

Within the same period, he revealed that 33 stores, 70 fish ponds, 21 raft foundations, 14 millponds, 14 solar boreholes, 11 chicken coops, 15 water ponds, more than 50km of rural tracks have been constructed. 

This, Hamadou further detailed, adds to the construction of two culverts, five kilometers of irrigation canals, and more than 100 hectares of land planted, with 80 tonnes already harvested. 

The official said in Biskavaye, WFP is through PULCCA supporting around 654 students (285 girls and 369 boys) and 243 households, representing nearly 1,215 beneficiaries, as part of labor-intensive work. 

The activities, Hamadou revealed, have resulted in the construction of a fish pond, a solar-powered borehole, a culvert, a diversion bay, and two storage warehouses. 

In addition to the achievements, Hamadou said WFP has built a school canteen consisting of a dining hall, two stores, and a kitchen. 

The structure, which has been handed over to the Ministry of Basic Education and the community, Hamadou stated, is a symbol of sustainability and local ownership.

“It is now up to the people and education authorities to preserve and promote it for future generations,” he stated.

Affirms WFP’s commitment to build resilience

Hamadou also used the occasion to reaffirm WFP’s commitment to continue working alongside government and partners to build sustainable solutions, strengthen the resilience of communities, and provide children in the Far North Region with the best conditions for learning and success. 

“We are convinced that the joint efforts we are making today will contribute to a more prosperous and stable future for the Far North and for Cameroon as a whole,” Hamadou stated. 

Beneficiaries hail WFP, PULCCA 

Many beneficiaries of the project have expressed gratitude to the PULCCA and WFP for the impact it is already creating. 

A teacher at Biskavaye Government Primary School, Thivede, said the school canteen project has helped to improve school attendance and reduce regular absences.

“…the year before last, we had about 500 pupils, but this year, we have risen to 628 pupils. Pedagogically too, the success rate was not very high, but this year, we are heading towards 70% to 80%,” Thivede said. 

The Labour-Intensive Public Works project has also been hailed as it allows households to earn an income while strengthening their food security.

“Thanks to them, even millet is not far away. We now have the mortar on site. Before, we did not even know much about gardening. Now, every beneficiary already has plants at home. It is thanks to this project,” a local resident attested. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3653 of Friday December 12, 2025