GEF approves $3.28m to combat land degradation in Kebbi

The Global Environment Facility has approved $3.28m to tackle land degradation in Kebbi State under the National Agency for the Great Green Wall initiative.

The Operational Focal Point for GEF, Jonah Stanley, disclosed this at an interactive session with the Federal Ministry of Environment, National Agency for Green Great Wall, and Sec. Diarra & Sages Consult Group recently in Abuja.

According to him, GEF is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, among others.

“The project, aligned for Nigeria, is to be carried out by NAGGW; recently, GEF approved $3.28m to deal with drylands, land degradation, and ecosystem regeneration in Kebbi,’’ he said.

Stanley, who is also the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics in the Ministry of Environment, noted that GEF was a funding mechanism that supported more than 185 countries around the world, including Nigeria, in dealing with environmental issues.

He said that Nigeria had benefited from GEF over the years.

According to Stanley, the support comes in circles, adding that Nigeria is now in the GEF 8 circle, which started in 2022 and will last until 2026.

On his part, the representative from Sec Diarra & Sages Consult Group, Professor Robert Yougbar, said the target of the funds was to get the land restored and community resuscitation.

In his remark, the Director-General of NAGGW, Saleh Abubakar, assured that the project would be executed with the funds.

Also, the acting Director of Planning Policy and Coordinator, NAGGW, Dr Innocent Alenyi, commended the establishment of the agency to tackle deforestation and land degradation.

He added that civil societies were crucial to the success of the agency’s initiatives in the country.