By Faridat Salifu
The Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, in continuation of her ongoing Hybrid Implementation Support Mission has today commenced a project wide Mission at the Sheraton hotel Abuja.
The joint World Bank/ FGN event for the project brought together the 19 Northern States and the FCT that are in partnership with the project for progress review session.
The primary objective of the mission is to assess overall progress of the project implementation from each of the State Project Management Offices and resolve bottlenecks that might slow down project implementation.
During the presentation, the National Project Coordinator (NPC) of ACReSAL, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar underscored the significance of the mission in stabilizing operations, providing guidance, and addressing challenges faced by the State Project Management Units (SPMUs).
The Task Team Leader (TTL) of the project Dr. Joy I. Agene, announced that the mission is scheduled to be held twice yearly to discuss crucial issues such as Compliance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Procurement, Fiduciary matters amongst others.
In terms of critical developments, the restoration of 4,384 hectares of degraded land was highlighted, against the target of 1 million hectares.
However, the mission also brought attention to some challenges facing the project. In a different dimension, the National Coordinator of the project, Mr. Umar clarified that the World Bank is content with the project’s progress and expects the SPMUs to accelerate project implementation.
Overall, the mission served as a crucial platform for the exchange of ideas and the identification of key areas for improvement in the ongoing projects. It ensured that stakeholders are better equipped to navigate current and future challenges in the pursuit of the Project Development Objective (PDO).