In 2009, CRS started agriculture programming through participation in the USAID-funded Emergency Rice Initiative, a two-year project to boost the rice production of 10,000 smallholder farmers through increased access to improved rice seed, fertilizers and management techniques. Using seed voucher fairs, CRS provided improved rice seed to 5,408 farmers in Kano State. In the future, CRS will increase the number of participating farmers and collaborate with other donor initiatives to help farmers identify more lucrative markets.

Even though Nigeria's oil reserves are estimated at 34 billion barrels and natural gas reserves are among the top 10 globally, Niger Delta communities remain mired in poverty. To ensure petroleum revenues serve the common good, CRS supports the Catholic Church and the Center for Social and Corporate Responsibility in their efforts to build the capacity of Niger Delta communities in four oil-producing states to demand greater accountability and transparency from both the federal and state governments and the oil companies. At the national level, CRS is also an active member of the Publish What You Pay coalition in Nigeria.

Since 2000, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been displaced due to conflicts and natural disasters. Through its Emergency Preparedness and Response program, CRS has increased our Church partners' ability to anticipate and respond to emergency situations, particularly in meeting the needs of internally displaced people. CRS has trained and is supporting emergency preparedness teams in five historically disaster-prone states. Teams have recently responded to conflicts in Plateau and Benue states, providing food and other essential items to around 10,500 internally displaced people.

Nigeria has the second largest HIV-positive population in the world. Therefore, CRS has prioritized community-based care and support for people with HIV and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in its health programming. Through its 7D and SUN programs, CRS is supporting 11 partner dioceses to provide care and support to more than 13,000 people with HIV and 17,000 OVC. Both programs provide a variety of services including testing, prevention and basic care. Using the Church's broad community outreach, CRS has trained networks of thousands of parish-based volunteers who visit beneficiaries in their homes to ensure they are receiving the services they need. AIDSRelief Nigeria provides services to 72 health facilities in 16 states; 34 of these facilities provide comprehensive antiretroviral therapy services. A 2008 study showed that the program has a viral suppression rate of 84 percent, meaning that the virus is reduced beyond detectable levels. This success is due to an effective model of treatment preparation and adherence support.

Despite increasing national revenues, high levels of unemployment and economic insecurity persist in Nigeria. Responding to this prevalence of poverty throughout the country, CRS recently has adopted a new economic strengthening strategy to increase access to effective self-managed, savings-led microfinance services and basic insurance for those living in extreme poverty in 11 partner dioceses. Through the implementation of the Savings and Internal Lending Communities Initiative, CRS aims to improve the livelihood and economic security of more than 2,000 households during the first year of the project. Of these, a majority of beneficiaries will be people with HIV or caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children served through the 7D/SUN HIV care and support programs.

Conflicts among and within ethnic and religious communities in Nigeria have frequently erupted into violence, resulting in the loss of life and destruction of property. CRS works with the Church's Justice Development Peace Commissions on peacebuilding initiatives that emphasize interreligious and intercommmunity dialogue and reconciliation. Peacebuilding also is integrated into the emergency preparedness and response programs to help communities monitor and respond to early warning signs of conflict, thus preventing the escalation of local conflicts. CRS is currently piloting Conflict Early Warning programs in two dioceses in Kano and Benue state.