GGW addressing water stress in 11 northern states

The effect of desertification on the frontline state is devastating with serious implications on food production which is exacerbated by shrinking water levels in dams and other irrigation bodies in the areas. Though government and other stakeholders have put in a lot of efforts to mitigate the effects of desertification on food security but the […]

The effect of desertification on the frontline state is devastating with serious implications on food production which is exacerbated by shrinking water levels in dams and other irrigation bodies in the areas.
Though government and other stakeholders have put in a lot of efforts to mitigate the effects of desertification on food security but the problem persists. Thus urgent measures should be taken to check its continued southward movement.
Mohammed Ngozi Thelma in an article published in the Peak Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Vol. 3 (2), 2015 entitled ‘Desertification in Northern Nigeria: Causes and Implications for National Food Security’ recommended that as agriculture has transcended from development strategy to agric business, the private sector should partner with government and non government organisations to make the best of the situation.
What Government has done?
Nigeria is losing 2,168 sq.km of land range and crop land to desertification in northern Nigeria and needs combined efforts of states and other stakeholders to contain further encroachment. Efforts to curb desertification have been on for a long time because of the devastating effect on the environment and society at large. During the colonial era, an Anglo-French Commission in 1937 investigated desertification reports in the Northern part of Nigeria and directed the emirate to embark on tree planting exercise to stop the encroachment. After independence, government and other stakeholders like the World Bank, the United Nations and others have directed efforts in human and material resources to combat the situation and in turn ameliorate the living conditions of the people in these areas. The Nigerian government in preparing strategies to combat desertification and ensure sustainable development in the National Action Plan (NAP) identified several sectoral policies as important in this regard. These include National Policy on Environment, National Agricultural Policy, National Forestry Policy, National Conservation Policy (National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Mitigate the effect of Drought in Nigeria, 2005) among others. These policies are effective for the implementation of NAP plans. They are to help in public awareness, environmental education of the populace, poverty alleviation, forest conservation, protection of land for agricultural activities, and provision of alternative sources of energy.
The National Agricultural Policy Plans in combating drought and desertification include: Protection of agricultural lands against drought, desertification, soil erosion and flood, protection and conservation of forests, promotion of alternative sources of energy, integrated Water Resources Management and promotion of appropriate farming system.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is the implementing ministry and the activities of NAP are in harmony with the National Agricultural Policy (National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Mitigate the effect of Drought in Nigeria, 2005).
The Nigerian government signed the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and other initiatives which included the establishment of a National Coordinating Committee on Desertification Control (NCCDC) which is the national body for the implementation of the Convention in Nigeria. And the establishment of FEPA under Decree 58 of 1988 was an important step towards addressing desert encroachment, which the States Environmental Protection Agencies (SEPA) were established in the 36 states and FCT, it has the mandate to address environmental problems which also include desertification.
However in 1977, the Federal Government set up the Arid Zone Aforestation Project which is to examine the problem of desertification in the country and check desert encroachment. In these states, tree planting campaigns were launched and forestry projects to check deforestation. Under this programme, Shelter Belts were established along the Northern borders of the country and assorted tree seedlings were produced and distributed. Also in this light is the Tree Planting Campaigns of the Buhari administration of 1984, as a way to enlighten and motivate people on the negative effects of desertification and the need to combat it.
Also a department of drought and desertification was created in the Federal Ministry of Environment to coordinate government activities towards the implementation of the Coordinating Committee on Desertification (CCD). Another aspect is the Great Green Wall Programme (GGWP); a Global Tree Planting Project to halt desert encroachment initiated in 2005 by former president Olusegun Obansanjo, and was inaugurated in 46 local government areas in the 11 frontline states of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamafara, Sokoto, Yobe and Kebbi. The Federal government approved the sum of ₦10 billion for the GGWP. It is a project developed by the African Union (AU) to address the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts of land degradation and desertification in the region. The programme was expected to generate economic activities for the citizens of the states involved and urge them to desist from felling but rather plant trees.
Government has employed development programmes to foster sustainable human development in the affected areas and to help rehabilitate some of the degraded land, enhance food security, reduce rural poverty and general unemployment.
The coming of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall has added impetus to the efforts to combat desertification in the 11 northern states.
Already, the agency under the implementation of GGW Programme from September 2013 – September 2014 constructed 92 boreholes in 92 communities as sources of water for the people and their livestock, as well as livelihood activities. These boreholes are renewable energy driven or powered (solar and wind) to ensure uninterrupted and sustainable water supply.  In all the communities provided with boreholes, water stress has soothed and women and children no longer trek a whole day searching for water.  It has been estimated that about 149,580 people and 1,207,567 livestock are benefiting from the 92 boreholes provided.