By Our Correspondent
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), an agency of the United Nations in collaboration with the Nigerian Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources are working together with the aim to recover 350,000 hecatres of degraded land in the northern part of the country, for agriculture purpose.
The project is part of the Action Against Desertification (AAD) initiatives which was primarily to support the implementation of the FAO’s Agro-Climatic Resilience for the Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) for sustinable management practices in targeted watersheds in the north region of the country.
The Minsister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, disclosed this on Wednesday at a high level Partnership to Scale Up Climate Actions in Fragile and Conflict – Affected Situations (FCS) -Zooming in on Food Security, organised by FAO in Rome, capital of Italy.
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Balarabe also said the government at the centre has empowered local communities to complemet government agencies in protecting forests and farms adding that in collaboration with the state governments, the current government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, has deployed renewable energy, kits, solar street lights, clean cooking solutions foe economic and security reasons.
According to the minister, Nigeria, like the rest of the world, is facing some climate crisis coupled with some socio-economic issues.
However, he said, ”Efforts are made to combat these challenges to ensure food security and imroved livelihoods.
He continue thus,” Federal Government in collaboration with the sub-nationals are engaging in several livelihood support programmes like training on climate resilience agriculture, irrigation, tractors usage, supply farmers with improved seeds and seedlings, animal species and fertilizers.”
On the challenges currently confronting the agriculture sector in Nigeria, the minister emphasizedthe importance of awareness, capacity building, collaboration, financil support, and technology transfer in leveraging international, regional, and local climate efforts while noting opportunities in renewble energy, climate -resilient agriculture, and regional cooperation.
