NALDA to plant one million economic trees across Nigeria
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has commenced plans to plant at least one million economic trees across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to tackle climate change, restore degraded ecosystems and improve rural livelihoods.
The initiative, under the authority’s Green Hope Project and Youth Agroforestry and Climate Action Campaign, has so far seen 5,000 trees planted across four locations in Ogun, Abuja, Plateau and Kwara states, with about 400 youths participating in the exercise.
Speaking during the close-out of the first phase of the campaign in Kwara, NALDA’s Special Assistant, Projects, to the executive secretary, Almustafa Ibrahim, said the authority had received approval to plant an additional 56,000 trees across 34 horticultural clusters nationwide.
Ibrahim said the trees, including mango, coconut, avocado and fig, would serve as perimeter fencing for NALDA’s horticultural clusters while providing fruits, supporting food security and creating additional income for beneficiaries.
He added that the authority was working with the National Council on Climate Change to explore carbon-credit opportunities for the trees planted, while the next phase would engage about 2,500 youths in tree planting and climate-awareness campaigns in their communities.
Also speaking, NALDA’s Senior Assistant, Technical, to the executive secretary, Olusegun Owolabi, said the programme was designed to restore the ecosystem while expanding horticultural production, adding that the authority planned to plant at least 500 trees at the Kwara site, depending on the spacing requirements of the different species.
Owolabi explained that NALDA’s horticultural programme was being implemented through controlled-environment farming, greenhouse production and open-field horticulture, noting that the economic trees would be planted around horticultural fields to restore vegetation removed during land development and provide long-term economic benefits to surrounding communities.
Meanwhile, one of the Green Hope Ambassadors, Emanuel Phillips, said the initiative would help regenerate forest areas and mitigate the effects of climate change, urging ambassadors to plant, protect and sustain the trees while encouraging others to embrace environmental protection amid increasing flooding and other climate-related challenges across the country.
