The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal has stated that Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought remains a global challenges that aggravate economic, social and environmental problems such as poverty, food insecurity, Biodiversity loss, Water Scarcity and Afforestation.
The Minister ably represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mahmud Adam Kambari disclosed this in Abuja recently while delivering a key note address at the inception workshop on the review of National Policy on Desertification Land Degradation and Drought.
The Minister assured the stakeholders of the Federal Government’s commitment in addressing Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.
He further reiterated that between 50 percent to 75 percent of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kastina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States in Nigeria are being affected with population of about 27 million peoples account for about 3.8 percent of the country’s total Land area.
Balarabe acknowledged the support of the World Bank and also urged the participants to take critical look of the current policy document, identify the gaps and produce a National Policy on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought that will stand the test of time.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Director of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Department, Mrs. Regina Nwaneri mentioned that the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including prolonged dry spells and erratic rainfall patterns, rapid rate of land Degradation, Desertification exacerbated by climate change demand that our policy framework is not only reactive but also proactive and adaptive.
She commended all the participants and encouraged them to put in their wealth of experience together to craft a policy that will not only mitigate the threat of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought but also unlock the potential for more resilient, prosperous and sustainable Nigerian Landscape.
In his goodwill message, the National Project Coordinator of Agro Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) Mr AbdulHameed Umar believes that Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought is one of the fundamental projects of ACReSAL.
He added that they were delighted to be part of the review of the National Policy on DLDD that will help to provide sustainability of degraded land in Nigeria.
Dr. Agbesor Precious, representative of the Country Director of Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Nigeria revealed that 95 percent of food items comes from land and assured their support for achieving the review of NDLD in Nigeria.
Dr. S Y Kpalo, an Associate Professor of Environmental study from the Nasarawa State University, the consultant for the review of the policy, appreciated all the participants for their contributions/suggestions during the group discursion and disclosed that all the submission will form part of the final review policy on DLDD.
Signed
Ibrahim Haruna
Director (Information)
3rd July, 2025
