Nigeria recovers 23,000 hectares of degraded land
By Zeniat Abubakar, Abuja
The Nigerian government says it has reclaimed 23,000 hectares of degraded land, completed 56 gully erosion sites and over 25,000 households benefited from Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP.
The Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi disclosed this at the closing Valedictory ceremony for NEWMAP, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He said that NEWMAP was established in collaboration with World Bank and its partner agencies in 2012 to address the menace of gully erosion and other forms of land degradation in 23 states across the country.
“In 2012, the Federal Ministry of Environment had in partnership with the World Bank designed the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, with the aim of reducing vulnerability to gully erosion and other forms of land degradation in targeted watersheds, focusing on reversing and preventing further land degradation, and at the same time enhancing the livelihoods of beneficiary communities.” The Minister explained.
According to him, the NEWMAP has completed 56 gully erosion sites, reclaimed over 23,000 hectares of degraded land, and the number of households that directly benefited from the project stands at over 25,000, while over 185,000 persons have received project advisory training.
“I must reiterate that the achievements of NEWMAP are in line with the goals of President Buhari Administrations Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the Next Level vision on sustainable development.” he stated.
Mr Abdullahi further said that project was not focused only on gully rehabilitation and restoration of degraded lands but covered urban stormwater management, climate change adaptation and resilience, water harvesting, climate smart agriculture, among others.
He also noted that the impact of NEWMAP has been felt all over the country, including in states that are not participating in the project.
“NEWMAP won 5 awards in 2019, as overall best project in entire World Bank Nigeria portfolios, best project in results and innovation, best project in disbursement, also, first position in audience award category under sustainable awards for World Bank projects in Africa Region; and second position in the Africa sustainable development team.” Mr Abdullahi said.
The Minister also commended the World Bank, partner agencies, the States, NEWMAP team and other stakeholders who contributed in making the project a huge success.
The National Project Coordinator, NEWMAP, Dr Salisu Dahiru, said the aimed of the event was to put the record and achievement of the NEWMAP before the public, Ministries and the World Bank that sponsored the project.
Dr. Dahiru said that the first phase of the NEWMAP project spent 500 million dollars in the execution of the project.
He said that another two grants were given by Global Environmental Facilities and Special Climate Change Fund, adding that one of the grants was about three million dollars while the other was about four million dollars.
“Then all of them amount to about eight million dollars grants, but the five hundred million dollars was approved for only seven states then. It was agreed between the Federal Government and the World Bank that if the number of the states participating in the project latter increase, then there should be additional fund, So when the number of participating states increased from seven to 19, the need to have this additional financing came up.” he said.
The National Coordinator further explained that each state, among those first seven, were given the opportunity to implement only five gully erosion sites.
“When the project started each state among the first seven where given opportunity to produce only five gully sites we realized that Agulu-Nanka in Anambra state alone, the gully erosion sites alone in Agulu-Nanka could have taken almost half of the amount, Urualla in Imo State, Auchi in Edo state these three were huge these made it necessary for additional financing to be provided by the world bank, and then the world bank advanced four hundred Million dollars, as at that time estimates of all the gully that needed to be rehabilitated was in essence one Billion dollars.” He explained.
He said that increased in the number of states led to additional sites, adding that some of the erosion in the sites was huge.
The National Project Coordinator, NEWMAP, Dr Salisu Dahiru also commended the state government for their contribution for the roles and commitment in ensuring that the project was successful.
The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project NEWMAP, is a multi-sectoral and Multi-level intervention which focuses on erosion and land degradation using the integrated watershed concept.
