The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, has reaffirmed the resolve of the Federal Government to check the problems of land degradation, desertification, food insecurity and impoverishment of communities in the dry land regions of Nigeria, working in partnership with various organisations.
She stated this yesterday while inaugurating a technical committee to review the current strategy and approach to the implementation of the Great Green Wall (GGW) programme in collaboration with the European Union.
She said: “The Federal Ministry of Environment is fully committed to the implementation of the Great Green Wall Programme in Nigeria and has already embarked on baseline studies, with a view to developing action plan that would ensure effective conclusion of the programme.
“We are also making efforts to mobilise funds from external sources in order to enhance the performance of the programme.”
She commended the European Union (EU) for taking a leading role in supporting the implementation of the Great Green Wall Project since 2007, particularly the EU support project for which Nigeria is a beneficiary. She stated that the implementation of the Great Green Wall had commenced with support projects across the countries involved.
Members of the technical committee were drawn from the ministry, the European Union, and the National Planning Commission (NPC).????????
The terms of reference of the committee include reviewing the current strategy/approach to the implementation of the Great Green Wall programme; to identify areas of interests of the EU as they relate to sustainable land management of dry lands in Nigeria; to identify specific activities and location for EU intervention in the programme and to develop a costed work plan for its implementation in the country.