By: Attahiru Ahmed – Gusau
Zamfara State Agro Climatic Resilience in Semi Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) Project has organised a stakeholders engagement workshop for over 250 participants across the state.
The ACReSAL is a project initiated by the federal government through World Bank assistance aimed to address the critical challenge of regional desertification and landscape management in northern Nigeria.
Speaking during the three-day stakeholders engagement workshop held on Thursday at Jaiz hotel in Gusau, the Zamfara State ACReSAL project Coordinator, Mallam Kamilu M. Zainu, disclosed that the programme was to ensure more sustainable future food and water security in changing climate,said the motto of the project is “Greening the environment Saving lives”.
“The issues required urgent and focused action to scale up cost effective land restoration practices”.
According to him, the project development objective is to increase the adaptation of climate resilient landscape management practices with targeted integrated landscape management.
He said over 250 participants were drawn across the 14 local government areas of the state that included community and traditional rulers, line ministries of agriculture, environment, water resources and Forestry and livestock development in the state.
“In particular,the project will support activities to develop multi-sectoral approaches for desertification control and landscape management, improve community livelihood and Resilience, strengthen institutions”.
He said the proposed ACReSAL intervention was targeted to arrest desertification and improve the sustainable productivity of land in the targeted areas of degraded and desert landscapes.
“It was also aimed to support communities with improved capacity and investments to improve sustainable livelihoods”.
Earlier on, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has disclosed that eleven project priority areas were presented to the World Bank through ACReSAL project in the state.
Governor Mattawale, who was represented by the commissioner for water resources, Engineer Ibrahim Isah Mayana, said the present administration was ready and committed to pay its counterpart funds as at when due.
According to him, the state government is willing at any time to pay the compensation to areas where projects will be sighted for development in the state.
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