Nigeria, World Bank To Restore Degraded Landscapes For Communities

The Agro-Cimatic Resilience in Semi Arid Landscapes ACReSAL project has reiterated its commitment to restoring the landscapes of major water shades to ensuring improved and better communities.

The ACReSAL national project coordinator Abdulhamid Umar stated this at the Hybrid Pre-mid term Review Mission of the the project held in Jos, Plateau State.

The event reflects the shared commitment to safeguarding the environment, restoring degraded landscapes, strengthening climate resilience, and improving the livelihoods of the people.

The mid term review is therefore organised by the World Bank for stakeholders to come together, have a look at what has been implemented so far, any impediment in its progress and solutions will be sought before the main review programme.

The ACReSAL project is implemented in nineteen northern states and the FCT wit a six year life span.

Represented by a financial management specialist for the project Dr Abdulaziz Abubakar, Umar explained that the land must be suitable for people to involve in any kind of meaningful engagement.

He noted that when measures are not put in place to enhance the value of the soil, one can achieve nothing much, especially farming in Northern Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Plateau State Commissioner for Environment Peter Gwom said ACReSAL highlighted the state’s ecological richness and abundant biodiversity.

According to him, the state experienced pressing challenges such as land degradation from crude farming method, illegal mining, gully erosion, deforestation, and climate‑induced stress on agriculture and water bodies.

Also speaking, the Task Team Leader for ACReSAL and Senior Environmental Specialist Dr. Joy Agene said that the team is in Jos for in‑depth discussions on project implementation progress, to appraise the project design, and assess how well it’s tracking against the Project Development Objective (PDO)

The Chairman of the twenty participating states and coordinator Bauchi ACReDAL Dr Ibrahim Kabir said over $700 million was earmarked for the project.

On his part, the coordinator, Plateau State ACReSAL project Mr Garba Gonkol said they have carried out numerous projects among which is the fencing of the Jos Wildlife park.

Gonkol however attributed the slow pace of work at the Bingham University Plateáu club site to heavy rains but announced that the contractor has resumed work at the site.