Great Green Wall: FG launches day, calls for transformative investment

The Federal Government of Nigeria has called on stakeholders to invest in the Great Green Wall initiative, aimed at transforming the 11 Frontline states from a desert economy to a green economy.

Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, made this call at the inaugural launch of the Great Green Wall Day and urged stakeholders in Nigeria to invest in the realization of this transformative initiative.

Shettima made the call during the maiden launch of the Great Green Wall Day in Abuja, 16 years after the initiative was conceived to plant economic trees, covering an 8,000km living structure that spreads through 22 African states.

Dr Yusuf Bukar, Director General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW), highlighted that the Great Green Wall (GGW) was envisioned as “the largest living structure on the planet, one that stretches 8,000km across Africa, ushering in a new era of sustainability and economic growth,” in an effort to address the desert region in Africa.

“It was launched in 2007 by the African Union as a game-changing African-led Great Green Wall initiative that aims to restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel,” he added.

Bukar stated that the initiative is being implemented across 22 African countries, with a major focus on “transforming Nigerian drylands.” The agency’s efforts in Nigeria involve afforestation, reforestation, and the provision of alternative sources of cooking and energy use.

Since 2015, NAGGW has made significant progress in adapting and mitigating the impact of emerging climate change risks in the frontline states, including Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa.

The agency has undertaken this task through various means, such as sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) in shelterbelt plantations, woodlot plantations, orchard plantations, Gum Arabic (acacia) plantations, indigenous tree plantations, social forestry, farm forestry, institutional planting, and large-scale restoration of forest lands.

Additionally, the agency has directly intervened by providing empowerment opportunities to women and vulnerable individuals living within and near the GGW corridor.

One of the challenges faced by the agency is the provision of an adequate water supply for its plantations. Hence, they are moving towards adopting alternative sources of energy such as solar, wind, biofuel, and others, according to Bukar.

As part of the commemoration of the Great Green Wall Day, the agency will demonstrate the use of a Dutch invention known as the Groasis Waterboxx, which guarantees a 90% survival rate for plant seedlings.

“The Waterboxx functions as a plant incubator, sheltering both the newly planted seedling and the ground around it from the heat of the sun while providing water for the plant. The lid collects water from rain and nighttime condensation, which is then stored in the bucket,” Bukar explained.

The launch provides the agency with an opportunity to actualize the project and improve the livelihoods of people in the area.

 

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