AKOR SYLVESTER, Abuja
The Federal government has reiterated its commitment to addressing the problems of desertification, land degradation and drought in the country.
The minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal who stated this at the Workshop to Review the National Policy on Drought and Desertification in Abuja Wednesday, said “the commitment implies that a number of complimentary policies, strategies and management approaches have to be put in place to ensure that environmental concerns are integrated into major socioeconomic decision-making processes in the vulnerable areas”.
He, however, noted that the past efforts have not yielded the much-desired result due to a number of factors, including the absence of a strong policy framework within which issues relating to desertification and drought could be addressed holistically.
In recognition of the glitch, the minister said government in 2007, formulated a National Policy on Drought and desertification with the overall objectives of reducing the vulnerability of the Nigerian environment to the menace of drought and desertification.
He however, said, after 17 years that the policy has been in use, and considering emerging environmental concerns and gaps that need to be bridged, the review of the current policy is rather long over-due.
The minister maintained that the policy must place emphasis on a participatory and bottom-up approach, noting that decisions about the design and implementation of anti-desertification and drought mitigation activities are to be taken with the full participation of every stakeholder, including the affected communities.
According to him, a good policy on drought and desertification must also take cognisance of basic principles, including Precautionary and proactive measures.
“Inter and intra generational equity, sustainable development, and Gender Equity. Also, the conceptual framework upon which the policy should be based includes issues related to problem identification, appropriate policy statements, identification of relevant strategies, indication of the legal and institutional elements as well as resource mobilization linking these elements.
“It has been documented that the major drivers of land degradation, desertification and drought are agricultural expansion, unsustainable land use practices, climate change, and not leaving out urbanization, infrastructural development and extractive industry development.
“Therefore, the reviewed policy document must take into consideration policies on, Agriculture, mining, urban development, climate change, etc. in order to identify and bridge necessary gaps”, he noted.
The minister charged the stakeholders from different sectors at the workshop to bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to bear, while expressing profound gratitude to the World Bank, which, through the ACReSAL Project, provided the financial support for this policy review and for numerous other supports to Nigeria’s environmental sustainability.
He urged them to take critical look at the current policy document, identify the gaps and produce a National Policy on Desertification, Land degradation and Drought that will stand the test of time.
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