By Muhammad Amaan
Participants from the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday convened to review the progress of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project in Kaduna State.
The World Bank-financed initiative is designed to combat land degradation and climate change in Northern Nigeria and the FCT.
Speaking to Journalists at the opening of the review meeting, National Project Coordinator ACReSAL, Abdulhamid Umar said the gathering aimed to provide technical implementation support to participating states.
“Capacity building and project supervision are integral to ACReSAL’s approach. We are in Kaduna to provide what we call technical implementation support.
“The project has been in progress for nearly three years. Our visit, alongside the World Bank, is to assess states’ performance, recognise achievements, and provide technical guidance where needed.
“We invited all the participating states to review Kaduna’s performance so as to provide assistance towards delivering the project as prescribed in the Project Implementation Manual and the Project Development Objective,” Umar stated.
He revealed that the reports received by the Federal Project Management Office and the World Bank indicated significant progress “and we are impressed with the work done so far.
“The state’s implementation team has set the project on the right track, demonstrating a solid understanding of the implementation framework.
“However, continual technical support and guidance remain necessary to enhance project delivery.
“We anticipate a faster pace of project delivery for the benefit of Kaduna residents.”
Also speaking, Kaduna State’s Commissioner of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr Abubakar Buba commended ACReSAL, describing it as one of the best performing World Bank supported programmes.
“ACReSAL has had a significant impact on capacity building, land restoration and climate adaptation benefiting all 19 northern states and the FCT,” he noted.
The commissioner said the programme achievements has provided a strong foundation for developing a landscape restoration policy document.
Mr Buba assured that the state government would be working toward legislative backing at the state House of Assembly.
“This initiative would ensure long term sustainability and institutional support for climate change and natural resource management, making it less dependent on changing administrations,” he noted.
ACReSAL Project Coordinator for Kogi State, Ms Ladi Ahmed highlighted the various challenges the state faces, particularly with gully erosion.
She said: “Work is in progress in Ankpa, Kabba, and Okene, and I can confidently say that the gully rehabilitation is going well.
“We are already receiving feedback from community members about how their lives are improving, the gully erosion had negatively impacted on their livelihoods.
“But now they can move around freely and engage in their businesses without disruptions. So, we are making good progress in Kogi state.”
