Zamfara State Government says plans has been concluded to plant one Million arable trees in partnership with Nigeria’s Great Green Wall aimed at fighting desertification and soil erosion in the state
Zamfara is one of the frontline desert states in Nigeria with its fifty per cent landmark under threat of desertification and soil degradation occasioned by annual flooding during rainy seasons
Governor Bello Matawalle stated this in Glasgow, United Kingdom when he hosted the Zamfara State Side Event at the ongoing COP 26
A Press statement signed by the Director General Media and Communication to the Governor Yusuf Idris said the Matawalle’s led administration ventured into the scheme to save the largely agrarian Communities that are predominantly farmers of millet, guinea-corn, maize, rice and other crops to guarantee food security in the Country
Mr. Matawalle lamented that climate change which is a major driving force to armed banditry bedeviling the state was the resultant effect of the taking over of pastoralists’ grazing reserves, water and resting points, noting that the state government is now chanelling resources to address all these including the establishment of modern pastoral settlements known as RUGA, where herders will be settled in one place with all required amenities provided for them and their animals and thereby stopping skirmishes between farmers and herders which gave birth to armed banditry in the first place.
Thr Zamfara Governor insist that the state government under his watch has already keyed into the World Bank funded Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes programme, which has desertification control and landscape management as one of its components
According to him, his administration is doing its best to protect natural habitats, protect and restore the eco-system and reclaim the land by building defences including resilient infrastructure and agriculture, the state government requires collaboration with partners to raise the finances that will strategically support the project
Zamfara State’s delegates at the event Includes the Secretary to the State Government, Kabiru Balarabe, Commissioners of Environment, Dr Nura Isah Gusau, Faika Ahmad of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Bilateral Affairs, Dr Suleiman Shu’aibu Shinkafi .
