Why North Wants More Funds For Agro-Climatic Resilience Project

An organisation, the Think Nigeria First Initiative (TNFI), has presented a scorecard to justify northern Nigeria’s demand for additional funding for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project.

At a press briefing in Abuja, the director-general, Alhaji Abubakar Sani, said the project has restored 818,546 hectares of degraded land, representing 81% of its target and reached 4.4 million people directly and over 13 million indirectly.

Other results, according to project records cited by TNFI, include 965 solar-powered boreholes drilled, 381 communities and 29,489 individuals benefitting from a $9.5 million Community Revolving Fund, 328 tractors distributed and over 20,000 farmers receiving climate advisory via phone.

Sani said in Gombe State, the 21km gully erosion control project is 98% complete and has saved over 200,000 households. In Yobe State, the Nguru wetland, which had been dry for 12 years, now flows again, restoring livelihoods for 80,853 farmers, herders and fishermen.

In Kogi, the Omigbo gully in Kabba, a 50-year menace, is 93% complete, restoring 4,300 hectares and protecting 90,649 people. In Sokoto, a 40km shelterbelt and 23 solar boreholes brought water to eleven communities for the first time, while the Wurno Irrigation Scheme, which has collapsed since 2010, is being rebuilt for over 100,000 farmers.

In Adamawa, flood control works in Gulak and Shuwa resulted in zero deaths and zero displacement from flooding in 2025. In Borno, 10 million seedlings were raised, and Sanda Kyarimi Park was rehabilitated. In the FCT, the Sheda cassava processing centre in Kwali saw women workers rise from 10 to 200, with daily incomes rising from N10,000 to N80,000 each.

“ACReSAL is not a promise. It is a record. These sites can be visited. The beneficiaries can be interviewed,” Sani said.

He said the proposed $500 million additional financing — $310m for dryland management, $165m for community resilience and $25m for institutional strengthening — is needed to consolidate these gains and reach more communities before the current cycle ends in 2028.

“To think Nigeria first is to support what is working for Nigerians,” he said.