The World Bank has approved $700 million to build Nigeria’s Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project.
In recent years, all efforts by the Federal Government to combat desertification were complicated by the need to feed the increasing population where natural resources were declining and farmers lack the capacity to increase food production without degrading land.
Persistent water shortages especially in the northern part of the country has also continued to worsen land degradation, desertification and habitat loss.
Change in climate over the past two decades has caused a decline in the productivity of major crops in Nigeria thereby making it difficult to meet the food needs of the country’s growing population.
The ACReSAL project is aimed to strengthen the country’s long term enabling environment for integrated climate-resilient landscape management in northern Nigeria as better environmental and water resource management and resilience against disaster and climate risks are needed to sustain economic growth and protect the most vulnerable.
