The World Bank has approved a $700m credit from the International Development Association for the Nigeria Agro-Climatic
Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes Project.This was contained in a press statement distributed on Thursday by the Bank’s
Senior External Affairs Officer for Nigeria, Mansir Nasir.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.”It was stated that the
productivity of major crops in Nigeria has been steadily declining over the past two decades, partly due to climate change,
despite efforts by the federal government of Nigeria to combat desertification.The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria,
Shubham Chaudhuri, was quoted as saying, “Nigeria is faced with water scarcity and droughts which occur every five years, on
average, with the potential to increase in frequency due to climate change. This scenario not only threatens food security,
livelihoods, and productivity but also exacerbates fragility and increases the risk of violence.“With communities and
households that are most dependent on natural resources for their survival and vulnerable to desertification, this intervention
will improve multi-sectoral watershed planning and investments to help about 3.4 million direct beneficiaries adapt to
evolving dryland conditions,”The ACReSAL Project is a 6-year strategic project prioritizing actions within dryland management,
community climate resilience, institutional strengthening and project management, and contingent emergency response.The
project is designed to enhance the capacity of the country to adapt to a changing climate.The Task Team Leader, ACReSAL,
World Bank, Joy Iganya Agene, was also quoted as saying, “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.“This will help reduce the
vulnerability of millions of the extreme poor in northern Nigeria, strengthening their own role in the management of their
natural resources while also addressing land degradation, strengthening climate resilience, and lessening livelihood
vulnerability in dry, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions in the northern states.”
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