In a move that could combine Nigeria’s fight against food insecurity with efforts to tackle the worsening effects of climate change, the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) is set to plant one million economic trees across the country’s six geopolitical zones. The initiative, which will feature mango, coconut, avocado and fig trees, is expected to restore degraded vegetation, expand agricultural production and provide farmers and other beneficiaries with additional sources of food and income. It is being implemented under NALDA’s Green Hope Project and Youth Agroforestry and Climate Action Campaign, with the authority already recording the planting of 5,000 trees across locations in Ogun, Abuja, Plateau and Kwara states. About 400 youths have so far participated in the exercise, while another 2,500 are expected to be mobilised for the next phase of the campaign, including tree planting and climate awareness activities in their communities. Disclosing the expansion plan during the close out of the first phase of the campaign in Kwara, NALDA’s Special Assistant, Projects, to the Executive Secretary, Almustafa Ibrahim, said approval had been secured for 56,000 additional trees to be planted across 34 horticultural clusters nationwide. Ibrahim said the economic trees were deliberately selected to ensure that the environmental benefits of the project would go hand in hand with tangible economic returns. He explained that the trees would be planted around NALDA’s horticultural clusters, where they would serve as perimeter fencing while eventually producing fruits for consumption and commercial purposes. “The trees will serve as perimeter fencing for our horticultural clusters while providing fruits, supporting food security and creating additional income for beneficiaries,” Ibrahim said. According to him, NALDA is also working with the National Council on Climate Change to explore carbon credit opportunities from the trees planted under the programme. He said the initiative was therefore expected to generate benefits beyond agriculture, particularly by encouraging carbon sequestration and strengthening Nigeria’s response to climate change. For NALDA’s Senior Assistant, Technical, to the Executive Secretary, Olusegun Owolabi, the programme would also help address the environmental impact of developing agricultural land. He said the authority’s horticultural activities, which include controlled environment farming, greenhouse production and open field agriculture, would incorporate economic trees around cultivated areas. “At the Kwara site, we are looking at planting at least 500 trees, depending on the spacing requirements of the different species,” Owolabi said. He explained that the trees would help replace vegetation lost during land development while providing long term economic benefits to the communities around the farms. One of the Green Hope Ambassadors, Emanuel Phillips, said the project could play an important role in regenerating forests and reducing the impact of climate related challenges, particularly flooding. He urged participants not to stop at planting the trees but to protect and nurture them to maturity. “Ambassadors must plant, protect and sustain the trees,” Phillips said, stressing the importance of encouraging wider community participation in environmental protection. Also speaking, another ambassador of the project, Okunola Rachel Kemi, Chairperson of the National Female Student Association of Nigeria, Kwara State chapter, said the initiative could directly improve the economic circumstances of local farmers. Kemi said greater access to land through the programme would enable farmers to increase production and improve their earnings, while the expansion of the project to other states could contribute to greater food availability nationwide. “It will have a massive contribution to climate restoration in the sense that the programme will help a lot of local farmers to have more access to land, and thereby increase their revenue,” she said. “It will make life better, and it will increase food in Nigeria, actually.” She noted that the programme had already extended beyond Kwara, citing Ekiti and Plateau states among locations where it had been inaugurated. The ambassador also urged female students to embrace the initiative as a means of building economic independence instead of depending solely on academic certificates in their search for employment. “I will implore especially the female students to embrace this programme so that they will not so much depend on their certificates or white collar jobs” she said. Kemi added that the programme could help young women develop sustainable sources of income and become financially capable of taking care of themselves.
Don't miss out on breaking stories and in-depth articles.
