By Murtala Ahmed Mustapha
Agro-Climate Resilience and Semi Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project and its partners have developed plans to strengthen landscape management practices through a best-practice action plan targeted at the northern part of the country.
The National Coordinator of ACReSAL, Dr Abdulhamid Umar, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ workshop involving Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi States on inclusive land management systems, held in Bauchi.
Represented by the Bauchi State ACReSAL Coordinator, Dr Ibrahim Kabir, Dr Umar said plans are underway to develop a substantive module to be used in every local government area of the targeted states.
He explained that the workshop aims to scale up the implementation of sustainable landscape practices in selected watersheds in northern Nigeria, and to reinforce the nation’s long-term enabling environment for integrated, climate-resilient landscape management.
In a remark, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Housing and Environment, Danlami Ahmed Kawule, pledged the ministry’s support towards achieving the aims and objectives of the ACReSAL project in the state.
He urged participants drawn from across the state to take advantage of the opportunity by showing commitment to the knowledge shared with a view to realising the project’s objectives.
On his part, the Soil Value Country Lead Agent, Mr David Ali, said the initiative seeks to mitigate conflicts between farmers and herders around watershed areas in the northern region.
He added that the Soil Value project is funded by Germany in collaboration with other consortium partners under the World Bank intervention, including L-Press and ACReSAL, working jointly to reclaim one million hectares of degraded land affecting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria.
