Agency Urges States to Make Budgetary Allocations to Fight Desertification

-


Agency Urges States to Make Budgetary Allocations to Fight Desertification

The Director General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (GGW), Mr. Goni Ahmed, has urged the state governments affected by desertification and other dry-land problems to make financial contributions through budgetary allocations for effective management of the crisis.

He also appealed to them to provide land and community mobiliszation to support the GGW programme designed for the purpose of addressing the challenges of reviving the Sahara and the Sahel to regenerate livelihood.
According to a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations Unit the group, Larai Daze, Ahmed spoke at a presentation at the technical session of the 10th National Council on Environment taking place in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

The DG, who spoke on the topic: ‘Reviving the Sahara and Sahel to Regenerate Livelihood’, said dry land in the sub-Saharan Africa cover about 14 million square kilometres which hosts about 70 percent of crop land and 82 percent of livestock holders, and productivity in these areas are seriously challenged by natural and human factors.

He said the National Agency for the Great Green Wall which was established by an Act of the National Assembly has embarked on activities in the realisation of the mandate of the GGW programme such as the establishment of shelter belt/windbreak and woodlot plantations; promotion of agro-forestry and renewable energy, farmers-managed natural regeneration, promotion of human livelihood activities, provision of water and rural infrastructure.

Others are skill acquisitions and employment generation, support for dry lands research efforts, school outreach programmes, sand dune stabilisation, oases development, among others.

In recognition of the land degradation as a global phenomenon and the limited success of past efforts, the DG said the GGW initiative was presented by the Nigerian Government to the African Union as a holistic regional approach to combat desertification and improve livelihood of affected communities.

This initiative, he noted, led to the signing of the convention on GGW 11 member-countries and the creation of Pan-African Agency of Great Green Wall (PAGGW) and adopted by the African Union (AU).
He further said that in Nigeria, dry lands constitute about 43 percent of its total land area covering 11 states which are directly threatened by land degradation causing serious food insecurity, abject poverty, forced migration and natural resource use conflicts resulting in insurgency in some areas.
The National Council on Environment which an annual event has in attendance stakeholders from the federal and states Ministry of Environment, NGO's and private organisations. The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, is expected to open the council meeting session during the week. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Population of Doctors in Nigeria Hits 74,543

-
Image
  The number of registered medical doctors in Nigeria has risen to 74,543. According to the federal government statistics, as at 2018, the stock of professionally regulated health workers in Nigeria health sector has also recorded a significant increase. The population equates to 36.3 percent of medical doctors per 100,000 population (doctor to population ratio of 1: 2753). Fifty-nine percent of the registered medical practitioners were in good standing with 35 percent being females. While presenting the statistics at a one-day workshop on Nigeria Health Workforce for Universal Health Coverage organised by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Abuja, Deputy Director, Human Resource Department, Shakuri Kadiri, said there is a variation in the distribution of medical doctors by state of practice from the reported 2012 density. He said: "The density of medical doctors presented is based on the number of doctors in good stan
Read more

Drug Insecurity: House Urges FG to Fund Indigenous Drug Research

-
Image
The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the federal government to invest more in the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development in order to encourage local and indigenous research. The House also urged the government to revisit the National Drug Policy as a way to promote and boost the medical industry. It directed its Committees on Health Institutions, Health Care Services and Science and Technology to organise a round table discussion to chart a probable course for the development of locally made drugs. The resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion titled: 'Need to check the Rise of Drug Insecurity and to encourage Indigenous Production of Drugs in Nigeria', which was moved by Hon. Dennis Idahosa at the plenary. Moving the motion, Idahosa said the House is aware that China has recently been inflicted with the coronavirus disease which has paralysed its economy, thus rendering it unable to produce or
Read more

Court Stops National Assembly From Taking Over Bauchi Assembly

-
Image
As the National Assembly received a report from the committee it sent to Bauchi State to probe the leadership crisis rocking the state assembly since its inauguration last month, the state high court on Monday issued an order of interim injunction ordering that the present Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Abubakar Suleiman and Danlami Kawule respectively,   should continue leading the assembly pending the determination of the suit before it. Justice Muazu Abubakar, who issued the order, fixed October 3, 2019, for hearing of the motion and substantive application filed by the speaker, deputy speaker and other 11 members of the assembly who participated in the assembly election. Abubakar said after listening to and considering the submissions made by the lawyers of the applicants Barrister Jibrin Sa'id Jibrin, A.S Idris and U.K Adam, he hereby ordered that status qou between the parties in the suit be maintained until the determination of the motion on notice. I
Read more