Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Africa’s ambition of restoring over 100 million hectares of degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable.
Buhari stated this on Monday on the side-line of the ongoing United Nations (UN) Climate Change Summit, COP26, during the Great Green Wall (GGW) in Glasgow, Scotland.
The GGW meeting was co-hosted by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the Prince of Wales, and the Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
President Buhari who spoke on, “Accelerating land restoration in Africa, the case of the Great Green Wall initiative,” said it was noteworthy that the meeting was tailored towards ameliorating the problems of land degradation, desertification, depletion of the forest ecosystems, and biodiversity in Africa.
He said: “With all hands on deck and concerted efforts at land restoration by African leaders, I am optimistic that Africa’s ambition of restoring over 100 million hectares of the degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable.”
He also informed participants that “Nigeria will soon be assuming the leadership of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall.
“Nigeria pledges her unalloyed commitment to expanding the achievements of the GGW programme in Africa from the enviable status attained under the leadership of His Excellency, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
“Together we commit to the transformative process of restoring the African degraded landscape and ultimately the continent’s environment.”
With all hands on deck and concerted efforts at land restoration by African leaders, I am optimistic that Africa’s ambition of restoring over 100 million hectares of the degraded landscape for productive agriculture is achievable.
