Land recovery and stabilization of the basins in the Northeast
Desertification continues to be a main driver of severe food insecurity and civil conflict in northern Nigeria. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,500 Km2 of land are lost each year. Over the past two decades, sand dunes have expanded by 400%, and have started to cover large portions of farmland in agriculturally productive regions leading to the disappearance of entire villages.
In some areas of northern Nigeria, there has been no harvest and no planting for the past 3 years.
The Boko Haram conflict that impacted northern Nigeria more seriously than other zones in the past nine years caused massive internal displacement of millions of people, particularly in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. These states host around 93% of the country’s 1.75 million internally displaced persons (IDP)s.
More durable approaches that entail restoring degraded lands and natural resources, alleviating poverty, providing jobs, and building infrastructure are necessary in order to promote the sustainable reintegration of displaced groups.
Most of the activities of the 3S project will be concentrated in the Hadejia-Jama’Are River Basin area, which is located in the core of Desertification Frontline States (DFS): Adamawa, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara. This project aims at contributing to the stabilization, increased food security and economic development of Northern Nigeria by creating employment opportunities for IDPs through the restoration of degraded lands and commercialization of products from the newly revitalized areas. Its objectives are:
- Restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded land across Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, and Borno States by 2025 by revitalizing and sustainably managing the Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin;
- Create 200,000 direct jobs for IDPs and unemployed youths by creating farming communes, facilitating access to land and tenure and providing rural infrastructures and agricultural inputs for the cultivation of crops such as maize, sorghum, millet, beans and onions;
- Build capacity and develop skills of IPDs and unemployed youths through delivery of technical trainings on farming techniques and business development to access national markets ;
Promote environmentally sustainable inclusive markets models through the development of local value chains, such as sorghum, maize, millet and dry rice, and foster linkages with malting beverage industry in Nigeria..