Africa’s Quest For Restoring Degraded Landscape Achievable, Says Buhari

AFRICA’S quest for restoration of over 100 million hectares of degraded landscape for productive agriculture under the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative is achievable, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

Buhari stated this on Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, at a side event on the Great Green Wall, as part of the ongoing Climate Change Summit, COP 26.

According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant, Garba Shehu, President Buhari at the side event which was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Prince of Wales, and the Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, on the theme, “Accelerating land restoration in Africa, the case of the Great Green Wall initiative”, expressed optimism over the projects,

He stated that with concerted efforts and collective commitment by stakeholders across Africa, the ambition of restoring over 100 million hectares of degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable.

The Nigerian leader disclosed that the country would be leading the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall, and pledged commitment to expanding the achievements of the GGW programme in Africa which has been under the leadership of Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.

He said, ‘‘Together we commit to the transformative process of restoring the African degraded landscape and ultimately the continent’s environment.’’

Buhari recounted that one of the major outcomes of the fourth edition of the One Planet Summit on Biodiversity, organized by the French Government in Paris, France on 11th January 2021, was pledge of $19.6 billion by the coalition of international communities to upscale the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative in Africa.

While appreciating the international partners for bringing environmental issues in Africa to the limelight, the President described the Biodiversity Summit as a direct response to request for support by African leaders to global communities on addressing Africa’s environmental challenges.

‘‘Since the pledges by the financial partners, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has continued to give technical backstopping to the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall through the establishment of Great Green Wall Accelerator for the 2021- 2030 Decennial Priority Investment Plan for the Great Green Wall programme.

‘‘This is to fast-track the implementation process with the prime purpose of translating the pledged financial resources of $19.681 Billion United States Dollars into hectares of land restoration and other livelihood improvements at various country levels,’’ he said.

Highlighting Nigeria’s role in actualising the land restoration initiative, President Buhari said that the country participated in drafting and harmonizing the Results Framework for the Accelerator with five cardinal pillars to address the 2021- 2030 Decennial Priority Investment Plan ambition of the Great Green Wall.

The five cardinal pillars according to the President include restoration of 100 million hectares of degraded land; sequestration of 250 million tonnes of carbon; creation of 10 million green jobs; resilient economic development in the various Member States as well as capacity strengthening and development.

On the margins of COP26, President Buhari accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Environment (State), Petroleum (State), Power (State), the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Sarafa Tunji Isola and the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari toured the Nigerian Pavilion.

At the Pavilion, the President held a bilateral meeting with the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Mr Ibrahim Thiaw.

They exchanged views on the challenges of desertification, along with climate change and loss of biodiversity in Africa, need to recharge the Lake Chad and the UNCCD support for the GGW initiative.

President Buhari stressed that Nigeria’s approach in addressing the physical and socio-economic aspects and effects of desertification, drought and climate change would prioritise education of the local communities and the use of technology.

In his remarks, Thiaw, while congratulating Nigeria’s imminent presidency of the Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the GGW, said the world is looking up to President Buhari for leadership.

He said 11 countries including Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eretria, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Sudan have been selected as intervention zones for the Great Green Wall.

He expressed confidence that the implementation of the GGW initiative would prevent and reverse the degradation of the ecosystem in the affected countries while improving the living conditions of the affected communities.

Nigeria is part of the 193 countries that have ratified the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

The goal of the Convention, as defined by its Article 2, is to ‘‘combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.

The great Green Wall initiative was launched in 2007 to help actualise restoration of degraded landscapes in Africa as a step towards ensuring environmental sustainability in the continent.