By Linus Oota, Lafia and Kolade Adeyemi, Jos
A Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Green Sahara in collaboration with Forest Action, a French company, has announced plans to plant 5million tree seedlings in 10 years to accelerate afforestation in Nasarawa State.
Chief Executive Officer, Green Sahara, Mr Sulieman Dikwa, stated this yesterday in Keana LGA of Nasarawa State during an advocacy visit on the Osana of Keana, HRH Abdullahi Amegwa Agbo and other selected farmers in the area.
According to him, “In Green Sahara, we discovered that people that are engaged in deforestation are not actually planting back, so what we are trying to do is to bring people to a round table to see how they can be part of re-afforestation with emphasis on cashew
“We want to start with cashew in Keana with 250, 000 seedlings in the first phase and our intention is to make Keana the hub of cashew production.
“We have brought the best species of cashew seedlings; we are going to train farmers on how to plant it, maintain and grow it within a circle of three years and our services are free of charge.
“We intend to do that in schools, mosques, environments and churches. The importance of cashew trees is that it protects lands better and control erosion as well as preserves water. Our first objective is to make Keana the hub of cashew because it is an export crop. We are planting other trees too but our focus is on cashew because the market is already there and its demand is high.”
Other speakers at visit were the Emir of Keana HRH Abdullahi Amegwa Agbo III, the General Manager, Nasarawa State Community and Social Development Mr Ala Saidu and a consultant expert on reforestation Action Mr Allain Retiere, who all agreed on the need for reforestation and the choice of cashew tree.
This is part of a larger plan by Green Sahara to reforest the entire Northcentral region of the country by planting over 25million trees to tackle the challenges of climate change globally.
Said General Manager, Mr Rayandy Chuwang, who made the disclosure to reporters in Jos, after a meeting with stakeholders, the essence of the meeting was part of advocacy and sensitisation programme to bring out the grey areas as well as the productive nature of the pilot scheme.
He said the project will begin this July and last for two years, while a total of 250,000 trees of different species will be integrated during the first year of the project.
He explained that the projection space will be within individual agricultural plots owned by over 2,500 growers with a total area of 1,250 hectares of land to be used by local farmers, to plant trees as well as economic crops that would boost the economy of farmers that embrace the programme.
Chuwang, who listed the stakeholders to include Forest Action based in France, an NGO that promotes agro forestry all over the world, alongside Green Sahara, the project leaders and also partners from the Ministry of Environment, College of Forestry, Federal College of Land Resources Technology in Kuru, and the sustainable development goals in Plateau State will carry out the pilot scheme that will encourage local farmers in the zone to plant trees as well as economic crops.
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