Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) has disbursed N360 million as a soft loan to 1,800 people from nine communities in Kebbi State to mitigate the menace of land degradation and climate change.
Speaking during the disbursement exercise, Friday, at Government House, Birnin Kebbi, Dr. Nasir Idris, and Kauran Gwandu, described the gesture as apt and commendable.
ACReSAL is a World Bank finance project designed to tackle the passing issues of land degradation and climate change in 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The governor observed that the gesture would go a long way in assisting the people, especially farmers.
While appealing to the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fund, Gov. Idris, however, said the benefiting individuals were known to be trustworthy persons.
He encouraged farmers across the state to embrace dry-season farming to be able to recoup what was lost due to the devastating floods that ravaged some parts of the state this year.
The governor assured the people that plans were underway to assist farmers who engaged in irrigation with fertilizers and other farming inputs to boost their morale.
“We will continue to assist our people because this government is a government of the people and for the people,” he said.
In his speech, the ACReSAL National Coordinator, AbdulHamid Umar said the program was a product of collaboration between the World Bank and the Federal Government.
He said the objective was to boost farming activities and mitigate the impact of desert encroachment and desertification, adding that it was designed to empower people.
The Task Team Leader, Dr Joy Agene, said they were in Kebbi because of the World Bank’s support to Nigerians because “our country, Nigeria is ranked one the tenth poorest countries of the world.”
Earlier, Ahmed Isa-Tela, the ACReSAL State Coordinator in Kebbi State, explained that the nine benefiting communities were selected out of the 60 communities slated for the program in Kebbi State.
He advised the beneficiaries to ensure prompt repayment of the loan to enable others to benefit, adding that 51 other communities in the state were due to benefit from the scheme.
