By Furera Mohammed
The Federal Government has once again restated it’s commitment to restoring more degraded lands for environmental sustainability in the country.
The Minister of Environment Malam Balarabe Lawal gave this assurance at the Stakeholders’ Engagement of the Federal and States Steering/Technical Committees by Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) on Thursday, December 21, 2023, in Abuja.
The programme was organised by ACReSAL, Federal Ministries of Environment, Agriculture and Food Security and Water Resources and Sanitation in conjunction with the World Bank.
The minister, who is also the chairman of the Steering Committee, expressed satisfaction that the collaboration would restore degraded lands in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Lawal said that there were seven million lands that were degraded; hence the need for collaboration between relevant stakeholders to enable ACReSAL to make progress in the restoration of degraded lands.
According to him”We need to emphasise on the collaboration between the federal and state government and I hope this collaboration will be extended to the local government,’’ he said.
Earlier in his remarks the World Bank Operations Manager Mr Taimur Samad, said that the ACReSAL project was an ambitious and transformational engagement to restore degraded lands.
He said the World Bank has continued to deepen its commitment to climate change, resilience, adaptation and mitigation.
Samad urged the 19 states and the FCT to ensure renewed commitments to the implementation of the projects.
In his Keynote address National Project Coordinator for ACReSAL Mr Abdulhamid Umar, said that the project was driven by three ministries namely the ministries of Environment, Water Resources and Sanitation and Agriculture and Food Security.
He said the project is being implemented in 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
