AGRIC: GOV. ALIA COMMISSIONS 33 NEW TRACTORS, DISBURSES N380M. (PHOTO).

 AGRIC: GOV. ALIA COMMISSIONS 33 NEW TRACTORS, DISBURSES N380M

3rd June, 2024

The Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, on Sunday commissioned 33 new tractors and also disbursed N380 million ($250,000) cheques to community interest groups to undertake climate smart agricultural activities in the state.

This is under the Community Revolving Fund scheme of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes scheme.

Governor Alia, who has already paid N1 billion as counterpart fund for the ACReSAL programme, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment towards providing the needed support for the programme to continue to thrive in Benue State for the overall good of the people of the state.

He appreciated the relentless efforts of ACReSAL in safeguarding the environment, saying his government is proud to collaborate on a project of such consequence, designed to improve the lives of the people of Benue State.

While he pronounced the immediate creation of ACReSAL as a new Agency of government in the state for the purpose of knowledge and skills transfer, the governor said Benue State like many other states in the country, share numerous challenges such as high poverty rates, a fragile environment, conflicts, degradation of natural resources, low agricultural productivity, climate-related risks, saying addressing such challenges require collective efforts. 

He said: “Addressing these multifaceted issues necessitates a concerted effort across various sectors. 

“The ACReSAL project is specifically tailored to bolster institutions and implement activities that mitigate the environmental impacts of climate change. 

“This includes supporting efforts aimed at landscape management, improving community livelihoods and resilience, and strengthening institutional frameworks.”

Alia urged the beneficiaries of the Community Revolving Fund to exercise diligence and prudence in managing the resources, assuring that the 33 tractors commissioned will benefit over 33,000 households in the state annually.

Earlier in her speech, the Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank Nigeria office, who also doubles as the Task team leader for the ACReSAL project, Dr. Joy Iganya Ajene, said the teams were in the state to assess, support and look at the bottlenecks of the programme in Benue State.

Ajene stated that they discovered no bottlenecks, an indication the programme has so far recorded great success in the state. 

She commended the government of Alia and the ACReSAL team in the state for playing their respective roles, saying Benue State stands to gain more from the programme, urging the government to continue to strengthen the needed institutions in order to continue to gain more benefits. 

Also in his remarks, the National Project Coordinator for the ACReSAL Project, Dr. Prince Abdulhamid Umar, appreciated Governor Alia and his government for supporting ACReSAL in the state as well as the World Bank for making funds available for the Community Revolving Funds programme, expressing happiness with the success the programme has recorded so far in the state. 

On his part, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Ugwu Odoh, appreciated the governor for his support for the project, informing him that the ministry has been very supportive of the ACReSAL team in the state, the reason they have recorded so much success with the programme. 

In his welcome address, the State Project Coordinator, Benue ACReSAL, Builder Victor Ama, said the ACReSAL programme seeks to amongst other things, address the challenges of land degradation and climate change in Northern Nigeria on a multi-dimensional scale, increase agricultural production, reduce poverty and improve standard of living with financing from the World Bank.

According to Ama, the project became effective in June 2022 and will end in March 2028, and it covers 19 Northern States including the FCT, Abuja, disclosing that the Benue State Government under Alia has paid a counterpart fund of N1 billion as well as provided a conducive working environment for the team in the state. 

He said the project is aimed at supporting community farmers in the state, being the mandate of the component “B” of the ACReSAL project, which is aimed at enhancing the resilience of communities and to improve their livelihoods. 

Aside from the commissioning of the 33 tractors, the sum of N380 million ($250,000) was disbursed to different Community Interest Groups to support community/farmer groups to undertake climate smart agriculture related activities in the targeted watersheds in Makurdi and Vandeikya Local Government Areas.

The benefitting communities are Wurukum, North Bank, Adeke, Mbagbera, Branch Atser, Mbayongu as well as High-Level township communities.