ACTION AGAINST DESERTIFICATION IN NIGERIA

The Great Green Wall project office in Nigeria has collaborated with United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to organise a Capacity Assessment Workshop on Action Against Desertification (AAD) in Sokoto state, North west Nigeria.

At the opening ceremony, the Director General, National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Mr. Goni Ahmed, said that as a framework of action for rural development, the Great Green Wall programme is important to rural families and is designed to improve the sustainability, integration and adaptability for dryland agricultural practices to enhance crop production, livestock and fisheries, promote commercialization and marketing of agricultural products, enhance accessibility of farmers, pastoralists and other land users to agricultural funds, increase security and accessibility to basic resources by affected people especially women among others.

Mr. Ahmed said the NAGGW approach to the rural development will include provision of opportunities for the grass roots to participate fully in the development programmes and getting the beneficiaries to queue into the development process. He reiterated the Agency’s commitment to sharing and exchange of research based knowledge, local knowledge, values and practices, and mechanism for exchange of and dissemination of technological information.

The DG remarked that FAO has been one of Nigeria’s strong partners on the Great Green Wall projects across Africa, noting that similar workshop was organized a year ago by FAO in Niamey, Republic of Niger on Baseline Assessment and Ongoing Monitoring of Agrosilvopastoral System of which five staff of the Agency participated. He also noted participation of women and the youth at the workshop, adding that women are very good managers of natural resources and the youth, vanguard of positive change.

The DG was represented by Mr. Saminu Ado, Head of Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit (APCU), Kano state.

The FAO Representative, Dr. Louise Sethwaelo stated that FAO's approach will help overcome hunger and poverty, ensure sustainable management of resources, building resilience of local communities and landscapes across the globe. She said capacity development is at the core of FAO's global mandate, stressing that the Organisation supports member countries to build their capacities for better policy formulation and strategy development, implementation of programmes, monitoring and evaluation, including support to communities to ensure sustainable livelihoods.

The Action Against Desertification (AAD) which is a support project to achieve the objectives of the Great Green Wall for Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) project, is a Pan African Programme launched by African Union, with the aim of addressing land degradation and desertification in the Sahara region, boost food security and support communities to adapt to climate change. Dr. Sethwaelo was represented at the event by FAO’s Assistant Representative, Mr. Rabe I. Mani.

Great Green Wall Initiative as an integrated action related to issues affecting people's livelihoods in the sahara and sahel, has one of its goals to address the menace of degradation and desertification in the region by engaging the rural communities.

The AAD intervention is being implemented in Nigeria to cover two main very populated basins - the Sokoto basin with one site in Basanta/Tangaza community of the state and the Chad basin in Jeke community of Jigawa sate and Maluri community in Bauchi state.

In attendance at the workshop are representatives from NAGGW (Nigeria), FAO (Ethiopia and Rome), FAO (Nigeria), NOA, WIA, BUK, State Ministries of Environment, Water Resources, Animal Resources, Animal Livestock, NAGGW Niger, NGO's and community members from the GGW corridor.