Kano commits to ACReSAL project

Kano State government has expressed its willingness to pay compensations and related counterpart funding for the realisation and of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi- Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) project.

The state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, stated this during the flag-off of the project’s joint World Bank/FGN Hybrid Implementation Support Mission in Kano.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, the Governor said they would put more efforts in ensuring that the project is a success.

Earlier, the Acting National Project Coordinator, ACReSAL, Anda Yalaks, said project is meant to assess progress in overall implementation and deepen policy engagement with relevant sectors.

He noted that the mission would also assess disbursement readiness and deliberate on Fiduciary issues such as, procurement, financial management, contract management as well as Environmental and Social (ESF) aspects, capacity building, workshops, amongst other critical issues.

The Senior Environmental Specialist, World Bank and Task Team Leader, ACReSAL, Dr. Joy Agene, said ACReSAL project would restore one million hectares of degraded lands in Northern Nigeria.

Agene said the project would increase adoption of sustainable landscape management practices in targeted watersheds in Northern Nigeria With proposed financing of $700 million and implementation period of six years.

She stressed that the over $700 million worth project is in partnership between the World Bank, Federal Ministries of Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development and the Federal Ministry of Water resources.

“Beyond the restoration of land, ACReSAL is expected to restore about one million as a mission by the President Muhammadu Bihari’s administration, we also wants to live behind institutions that will be able to do this on their own. So, we are happy to tell you that most of the states that are under ACReSAL are disbursement ready and we are good to go,” she said.

The state’s Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Kabiru Getso, expressed optimism that the Kano implementation mission would achieve desired results.

He expressed the commitment of the state in improving and protecting the Kano environment with priority and attention to the sector on issues of biodiversity conservation and restoration of degraded lands.