Sahara Farms, Ministry Partner To Establish Living Lab In Niger Delta

Implementer of living lab in Nigeria, Green Sahara Farms and the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta have commenced plans to establish a living lab for nature and people in the Niger Delta in a move to find balance between human needs and nature.

The aim is to enable transition from a fossil based linear economy to a circular bio economy with landscape restoration as a foundation and in the case of the Niger Delta, the restoration of mangrove plantation.

The living lab will also focus on the usage of renewable natural resources instead of petrochemicals which cause damage to the environment as a base resource in agro forestry, medicine, housing, bio fertilisers and bio pharmaceuticals.

This development was made known when the founder/CEO of Green Sahara farms, Suleiman Dikwa paid a courtesy visit to the minister of State for Niger Delta, Sharon Ikeazor in Abuja.

The minister lamented that the devastation caused by the activities of oil companies in the Niger Delta has caused loss of livelihoods and other social and economic problems.
The minister stressed that partnerships like this will provide a more sustainable source of livelihoods to the people of the Delta.
Earlier, Dikwa noted that everyone has agreed that conservation is no longer sustainable but to adapt business models which create sustainable economic activities while restoring landscapes.
Dikwa explained that the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA) had developed a holistic approach to reimagine and develop an economy built on landscape restoration.from housing, biopharmaceuticals, bioenergy, bioferilizers for regenerative agriculture ,aesthetic and spiritual harmony .
Permanent secretary in the ministry, Olufunso Adebiyi stressed the need for the ministry to develop competencies in climate adaptation economic models with a view to meeting the SDGs target as a core function of the ministry.
The ministry’s director of economic development, Patrick Nyamo stated that the ministry has various social programs that they could not execute due to lack of funds and finding a synergy between social, economic and environmental objectives will enable an alternative source of financing social and environmental challenges sustainably and prepare the Niger Delta for life after oil.