By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi
The task team lead of the Agro Chemical Resilience in Semi Arid Landscapes Project (AcreSAL), Joy Iganya Agene, said that the project in Bauchi state has immensely contributed to the reduction of poverty through an increase in income for farmers by about 41%, stressing that the percentage can go beyond 50% and even more.
She described Bauchi as one of the best AcreSAL state, which understands donor funding and the required support, begged the state government to improve under the new funding window, and stressed the need for additional financing at mid-term, following a review in Lagos in May/June, which reflected a strong performance by participating states.
The National Project Coordinator of the AcreSAL, Mr. Abdulhameed Umar who commended Bauchi state for its performance commended on the AcreSAL project, described the project which was launched in May, 2023, as performing, a rating that triggered the move for additional funding across 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Coordinator Abdulhameed Umar explained that Bauchi happened to be one of our best-performing states as far as ACReSAL is concerned, hence they didn’t find it difficult to come to Bauchi because, as he puts it, “ACReSAL is actually being implemented and delivering results here,”
The coordinator added, “Our intent for the establishment of Bauchi State ACreSal Agency remains and is already making progress. When concluded, the agency will contribute significantly to ensuring the sustainability of these laudable projects after the expiration of Akresel project”.
He assured that the agency will provide them with a comprehensive framework that could integrate agriculture, environment, and water resources into a single resilience-building agenda, and appreciated the development partners, technical teams, community leaders and stakeholders who have contributed to the success of Acresal project in Bauchi state.
Declaring the four-day sensitization opened in Bauchi Monday, Governor Bala Mohammed said that Bauchi has impactfully implemented the Agro Chemical Resilience in Semi Arid Landscapes (Acresal) Project in the state with integrated water schemes across 100 catchment routes in 20 local government areas of the state.
These, he said, were in addition to the 100 handpumps established in the hard-to-reach communities, the massive agro-processing and livelihood support initiatives among the youth and women, the community revolving funds.
Other achievements, the governor enumerated, included the CFF, restoration of over 39,000 hectares of degraded land, and numerous institutional strengthening interventions in spatial ecosystem of Yankari Game Reserve, among others.
Governor Bala described these proofs as giant stride of prioritization and thoughtful consideration of peculiarities in project selection and implementation as a state”, he said at the opening ceremony of the AcreSAL, Hybrid Additional Financing (AF) Pre-appraisal mission, held at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre, Bauchi.
“It gives me immense pleasure watching our people from rural communities giving testimony about the impact of AKRESIL projects into their well-being. This gives us confidence and courage towards doing more. The last AKRESIL project open day and stakeholders engagement that took place in this hall a few months ago was a clear testimony of our collective resolve to restore our lands and build climate resilience among our communities”.
Represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Auwal Mohammed JATAU, the Governor explained that 60 units of tractor cooperating at the local government areas, 100 all-terrain motorcycles for agricultural extension agents, 43 officers and a set of plot strong erosion control heavy machinery that were distributed to the land restoration line institutions are testimonies of the state renewed commitment.
Senator Bala Mohammed added, “We deliberately targeted to strengthen our institutions to effectively deliver their mandates, enhance agricultural productivity and climate smart agricultural practices through extension services. It is not just about the mechanization, neither is it about machinery and mobility”.
“Beyond ACresal life span of six years, we are also focused on establishing an epicenter for integrated landscape management that will support all our efforts in land restoration, building community climate resilience and ensuring that our environment and natural resources are judiciously utilized and safeguarded for this generations and the generations to come”, he said.
It will be recalled that ACreSal project started in Bauchi state where the World Bank team, the Federal Government representative and the 19 northern states and FCT gathered on the 23rd of May 2023, for official launch of the project. Thus Bauchi State was the first state to launch AKRESIL projects.
“These records, coupled to our unwavering commitment to the implementation of Akresel project across the nooks and crannies of Bauchi State must have informed the rationale of selecting Bauchi for this important gathering of hybrid additional financing pre-appraisal mission”, the governor concluded.
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