By Ngozi Nwankwo
National Agency for Great Green Wall, NAGGW has reiterated its commitment to improve the livelihood of over 20 million Nigerians by the year 2030.
The Agency said it targets to rehabilitate degraded land by establishing 13,000km of shelterbelt, 250,000Ha of woodlots, and 250,000Ha of community orchards, so as to boost agricultural production and improve the livelihoods of about 20million people by 2030.
Disclosing this at the workshop training on opportunity mapping for improved decision-making and monitoring of the agency’s activity organised by United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, in collaboration with NAGGW, the Minister of Environment, Barrister Mohd Abdullahi said the objective of Great Green Wall programmes is highly ambitious as it aims to restore and sustainably manage land in the Sahel-Saharan region to address both land degradation and poverty.
Speaking at the workshop, the Minister said, “As we all are well aware, the world is in the midst of simultaneously addressing multiple risks: the Climate Emergency and Related Water Risks, Both at Times Too Much Water and Too Little Water; Food Security; Biodiversity Loss; Pollution and the list goes on. Nonetheless, amid the gloomy forecasts, there are some positive takeaways and the Government of Nigeria is taking positive steps to mitigate these risks as much as possible within the resources available.”
According to him, the government of Nigeria has a well-established collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme, starting with the Ogoniland programme in 2009 and more recently on the HYPREP project for environmental remediation in Rivers State.
Abdullahi also said in line with the relevant provisions of the GGW Convention, a National Strategic Action Plan was developed to serve as framework for the implementation of the program in 2012 and is currently undergoing a review.
Explaining further, the Minister said for Nigeria to meet the target of improving livelihood by 2030, NAGGW has already engaged baseline studies and Environmental Impact Assessments; community mobilisation, sensitisation and awareness campaign; forestation and land management; promotion of alternative livelihoods; rural infrastructure; and employment generation.
He also listed the ongoing program to include: Ecological restoration and rehabilitation to enhance the livelihoods of the affected communities and strengthen their resilient to climate change, promotion of climate smart agricultural practices to enhance food security and climate change adaptation; improvement of critical rural infrastructure for enhanced socioeconomic socioeconomic development; and promotion of alternative and efficient sources of rural energy to reduce deforestation and combat climate change.
Also, the Director General, NAGGW, Dr. Yusuf Maina- Bukar said the GGW programme is a Pan-African Initiative adopted by the African Union in 2007 as a strategy to address land degradation and desertification in the Sahel and Sahara regions of Africa.
