A Non-Governmental Organisation, One Acre Fund, has commenced the distribution of more than 21 million tree seedlings to 700,000 farmers across Nasarawa, Niger and Bauchi states as part of efforts to combat climate change and strengthen agricultural productivity.
Speaking at the official flag-off of the 2026 Trees Distribution Programme in Agunji Community, Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, the organisation’s Trees Lead, Zainab Haruna, said the free seedlings include Albizia Lebbeck, Moringa Oleifera and Parkia Biglobosa.
According to her, the intervention was introduced in response to the growing challenges farmers face as a result of climate change, particularly soil degradation and declining agricultural productivity.
She lamented that climate change continues to affect farmlands by reducing soil nutrients and limiting farmers’ ability to maximise yields.
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Haruna explained that the tree distribution programme was designed to help farmers address these challenges while improving environmental sustainability and long-term agricultural resilience.
“We encourage farmers to ensure that they plant them to harvest the value, and also for the other environmental benefits that are likely to occur: strengthening the soil, reducing erosion, lessening soils from being prone to flooding, providing long-term assets for farming households, and generally reducing carbon in the atmosphere.”
“When we plant trees, they are able to trap atmospheric carbon, which means that they reduce the quantity of carbon in the atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon is directly responsible for depleting the ozone layer, which is why when the ozone layer is depleted, we see that the sun is hotter, rainfall is reduced, and the quality of our soils is reduced. So, by planting more trees, we are directly combating that effect,” she explained.
The Nasarawa State Trees Field Director for One Acre Fund Nigeria, Muhammad Lenfa, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to empowering farmers and supporting efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change.
He urged beneficiaries not to sell the seedlings but to plant and nurture them to ensure they achieve the intended environmental and economic benefits.
“The issue of climate change is something that we all need to tackle collectively, and it starts from our environment, nurturing our environment. Some of these tree species are leguminous. For example, Albizia lebbeck is a leguminous plant, it doesn’t really need fertiliser. As it grows, it serves as a windbreaker, it prevents the force of the wind from encroaching into the environment. So, I urge the farmers to collect these seedlings, take good care of them, and ensure that the seedlings survive so that it serves the intended purpose,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Helen Jonathan expressed gratitude to One Acre Fund Nigeria for the seedlings and promised to make good use of them to improve their farming activities and livelihoods.
