The World Bank, federal, and Kwara state governments have entered into a tripartite partnership to tackle challenges related to water resources, agriculture, and land reclamation due to ecological factors in some parts of Kwara state.
Speaking during a tour of the Eruda, Ojaiya, and Ita-Amodu erosion control projects, as well as the Asa Dam water treatment plant in Ilorin, a team of experts from the World Bank, Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL), and members of the state executive council said that the state stands to benefit from a $700 million loan for land reclamation.
The national project coordinator of ACReSAL, Mallam Abdulhameed Umar, said that the team is committed to the theme of the first intervention visit in the state: “Acceleration of ACReSAL projects’ implementation in Kwara state.”
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He also said that the project aims to address poverty among the poor in rural areas and communities, stating, “Degraded lands are supposed to be recovered to become fertile to service the mainstay of our people, which is agriculture.”
“The project is anchored on three pillars: dry land management, climate-smart agricultural practices, and strengthening policies and institutions for the project to outlive all of us.”
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Speaking on the assessment of the Asa Dam waterworks, Umar lamented that water hyacinth had taken over the source of potable drinking water, adding that the equipment in the water treatment plant is not only dilapidated but also obsolete.
Also speaking, the state Environment Commissioner and the state steering committee chairman of ACReSAL, Sheu Ndanusa Usman, lamented that the majority of the land mass in the country is being eroded due to ecological problems, deforestation, and overgrazing.
