The International Development Association has granted a $700 million credit from the World Bank for the Nigeria Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes Project.
Mansir Nasir, the Bank’s Senior External Affairs Officer for Nigeria, said this in a press statement released on Thursday.
The statement read, “The World Bank approved a $700m credit from the International Development Association for the Nigeria Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes Project.
“The project will increase the implementation of sustainable landscape management practices in northern Nigeria and strengthen the country’s long-term enabling environment for integrated climate-resilient landscape management.”
Despite attempts by the Nigerian federal government to address desertification, the production of main crops has been continuously dropping in Nigeria for the past two decades, partly due to climate change.
Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, was cited as saying,
The ACReSAL Project is a six-year strategic initiative that prioritizes measures in the areas of dryland management, community climate resilience, institutional development and project management, and contingency disaster response.
The project aims to improve the country’s ability to adapt to changing climates.
Joy Iganya Agene, Task Team Leader, ACReSAL, World Bank, was also quoted as adding, “The project will specifically target the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women, youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities, internally displaced people, and ethnic and religious minorities using an integrated watershed approach across sectors and levels of governance.
