Acresal Project Minister Commends World Bank Disbursement to FCT
The World Bank has disbursed $2 million to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for the implementation of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project.
The Minister of State for FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, commended the World Bank for its partnership, which she believes will promote environmental sustainability and agricultural prosperity for residents of the FCT.
The ACReSAL project is in line with the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Tinubu, particularly in addressing environmental degradation and the impact of climate change.
According to NAN, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, has lost its tree covers and experienced land degradation due to physical developmental projects.
The ACReSAL project aims to restore the lost trees through afforestation and other climate change adaptation activities.
The project is community-based, designed to enable communities to access funds through a revolving fund.
The FCT has formed 250 community interest groups (CIGs) through which the fund will be disbursed.
Each benefiting community will access $25,000 to carry out afforestation, irrigation, and some climate change adaptation activities.
The project is here to help communities adapt to the shock that will come from climate change, and one of the approaches is the revolving fund where communities will get about $25,000 each.
The project also has investments in gully erosion, flood control, and large afforestation in the FCT.
The World Bank team needs the support of the FCT Administration to access more funding, amounting to about $10 million.
The conditions for accessing the funding include project design, environmental and social instrument, and catchment management plan.
The project is being implemented in 19 states and the FCT to tackle the challenge of landscape degradation and promote effective watershed management.
The project’s success is assured by the robust framework established by the FCT, which includes active community participation in the implementation of the project.
The FCT has also planned to construct boreholes in various communities, initiate land restoration, build knowledge programs, and provide critical agricultural inputs to farmers to improve the livelihood of the communities.
