Senator Bassey Otu, Gov Cross River State
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its partners are to support the restoration of 18,000 hectares of land in two states for the sustainable cultivation of cocoa and oil palm.
FAO climate change specialist, Ms Nifesimi Ogunkua, disclosed this during a four-day FAO Participatory Informed Landscape Approach (PILA) multi-stakeholder workshop in Calabar, Cross River State.
Ogunkua said the restoration of the hectares of land would be carried out in Cross River and Ondo States, respectively.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the key deliverables of the project include the creation of two Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) frameworks at the state level and four integrated land-use plans at the local government level.
READ ALSO: 50 million face food insecurity in West Africa — FAO
Additionally, the project aims to strengthen at least four gender-sensitive state and federal government policies, regulations and financing frameworks.
It also targets an increase of up to $200 million in private and public investment in the sustainable cocoa and oil palm value chain.
Ogunkua, who also serves as the Focal Point for the Food System, Land Use, and Restoration Impact Programme, stated that the project will restore 10,800 hectares of degraded land in Cross River State and 8,000 hectares in Ondo State.
She said that the restoration process will employ an innovative approach known as regenerative agriculture and forestry practices.
Assistant Director of Land, Environment and Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Iyabo Mustapha, emphasised that the initiative will help smallholder farmers comply with the EUDR regulations.
She noted that many smallholder farmers in the cocoa and oil palm sectors will benefit from the programme, allowing them to remain competitive while meeting the European Union’s sustainability requirements.
Chairman of the Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, Mrs. Beatrice Nyiam, highlighted the project’s significance for her community.
She noted that Boki, as one of the pilot local government areas, had faced environmental degradation due to logging and excessive chemical use in agriculture.
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