‘FG not giving due attention to Great Green Wall project’

In this interview, the Dean, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, (NSUK) Professor Nasiru Medugu Idris, speaks on the Great Green Wall programme and the effect of climate change in Nigeria.

as the Great Green Wall project been able to check desertification concerns in the country? So is the project a total failure?

There are some successes. The original targets were closely met and additional activities were undertaken which enhanced the overall impact of the afforestation project. Some afforestation targets were achieved through shelterbelts and woodlots. Increased crop yields were experienced on farms protected by shelterbelts and windbreaks as well as through the integration of agro-forestry in the woodlots. Also, increased income was realized from orchards and woodlots. Furthermore, participating farmers have been empowered to establish and manage their own afforestation projects, which have proved to be a source of income generation and employment generation.

Also, in recognition of the importance of women in afforestation, the project was later modified to mobilize women to produce and use fuel-efficient stoves and establish their own orchards and woodlots.

What is your take on the approach to afforestation in northern Nigeria?

The major strategy used to control desertification was the planting of shelterbelts. In northern Nigeria, belts were aligned in a northeast, southwest direction to break the most damaging of winds, which occur between April and May at the start of the rainy season.

The main objectives of the shelterbelt were to provide a source of fuel wood, provide source of poles for building, prevent desert encroachment by stabilizing soils and reducing winds, increase crop productivity and to make marginal lands more arable.

In this case, common species used were the fast growing species neem.

The belts are stratified by zones, years of planting as well as by species of plants. On the whole, 1,962 kilometres of shelterbelts were established throughout the afforestation programme states and occupied a land area of 5,379 hectares. Indeed, the survival rates of these shelterbelts vary, ranging from a low of 48.7 per cent in Bauchi State to a high of 71 per cent in Katsina State.

However, the average survival rates in Yobe State’s woodlots were unexpectedly low, when compared to other states. For instance, the average survival rates for woodlots range from 43.2 per cent in Yobe State to 85.5 per cent in Katsina State. Also, 296 kilometres of roadside plantings have been established in the nine afforestation programme states.

The survival rates of this component range from 31.7 per cent in Plateau State to 64 per cent in Katsina State. Generally, the roadside component though highly visible, was poorly understood and inadequately executed, without community participation.

How do we address climate change in relationship with national disasters?

Climate change is a global issue because there are factors that attest to that. These are being caused largely by advanced countries but many African countries are at the receiving end. Individual countries cannot totally fight it, it has to be an holistic approach. In that approach, we have to reduce the emission level.

Anytime there are changes, the southern and northern parts of the country will be affected because there will be deficiency of rainfall in the northern part while there will be flooding in the southern part. Nigeria cannot fight it alone, but we need to be a party in ending it.

The ozone layer has been affected, so Nigeria cannot solve or correct the problem of its own ozone because it cuts across many countries. We have to follow the policies and that is why we have the Nationally Determined Contributions. As long as Nigeria is a party to so many conventions, it will go a long way at addressing the problem. We have to follow Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement among others religiously so that we can meet up with the emission reduction level.

Is Nigeria moving in the right direction?