By Bitrus Osagie
The Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project has distributed over 2, 000 tree seedlings to women and farmers in Kwadom Community of Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State.
The Gombe State Project Coordinator, ACReSAL, Mr Sani Jauro while donating the seedlings to members of the community on Yesterday in Kwadom said the gesture was aimed at restoring the environment.
Jauro said the exercise was in line with the initiative of Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State to address land degradation through massive tree planting and other measures to check deforestation and desertification.
He explained that the ACReSAL project was important as it would not only benefit the environment but also the agriculture sector as well as help protect the livelihoods of rural dwellers who had been impacted by so many environmental challenges.
He said ACReSAL Project would build on the successes recorded by the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, (NEWMAP) in the state and strengthen efforts towards addressing erosion and other environmental challenges.
According to him, one of the objectives of ACReSAL is to curb water scarcity, enhance water usability among households and farmers.
The coordinator said that ACReSAL works in three areas of agriculture, water resources, and the environment.
He said part of the project mandate in the state was to establish plant nurseries in all the 11 Local Government Areas of the state.
“ACreSAL is targeting to resolve lingering issues around agriculture, environment and water resources with the objective of reclaiming degraded land in the state,” he said.
He said the seedlings being distributed were economic trees with huge benefits and comprised moringa, Mahogany, pawpaw and cashew.
Jauro called for more community support towards the success of ACReSAL and other environmental initiatives by Gov. Yahaya aimed at addressing environmental degradation in the state.
Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, Hakimi Kwadom appreciated Gov. Yahaya, World Bank and the ACReSAL team for coming to distribute tree seedlings to women and farmers in his community.
Abubakar described the gesture as beneficial to their environment, farmers and dwellers in view of the economic importance of the trees that had been distributed.
He pledged his community’s commitment to continue to support efforts aimed at restoring the environment and addressing land degradation for the benefits of the citizens in view of the global impact of climate change.
He appealed to his people to not only plant but ensure that they nurtured the trees to maturity so they could reap the full benefits of the trees in their community.
Mrs Adama Mohammed, who was given moringa seedling thanked ACReSAL team for the gesture, adding that the tree would help contribute to the nutritional needs of his household diet.
“We will plant these moringa seedlings in our neighborhood and around our houses and when they grow we will use it for both food and medicine to improve our health and that of our children,” Mohammed said.
Our correspondent reports that ACReSAL is a World Bank intervention project aimed at tackling environmental degradation, desertification and related issues in the 19 northern states.
Also, the ACReSAL team sensitised Kwadom women who were given moringa seedlings and farmers on how best to plant the seedlings given to them as well as measures to be taken towards ensuring that the seedlings grow to maturity.
