Sandamu – The Sandamu Local Government Council in Katsina State on Friday commended the European Union (EU) and Oxfam International for the Improving the Fuel Wood Balance (FuWoBa) project in the area.
Malam Usman Mohammed, Head of Department of Agriculture in the council, conveyed the commendation in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sandamu.
He said that the council area had benefited immensely from the programmes of the four-year FuWoBa project, which were aimed at protecting the environment and enhancing the socio-economic development of the people.
He said that the project had been able to plant 281, 423 trees across the 11 wards of the council area.
“Additional 654,090 trees were also planted and maintained through the Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) scheme,’’ he said.
Mohammed noted that the FuWoBa initiative, which involved 6,273 farmers, had also trained 282 community-based organisations in livestock production.
He said that the project had also promoted peaceful farmers-herdsmen coexistence in the area.
According to him, the FUWOBA project has trained 350 youths in the production of clean cook stoves.
He said that the youths produced 7,817 stoves, out of which 2,041 units had been sold.
“The stove production project has supported efforts to reduce indiscriminate felling of trees in the area,’’ he added.
Besides, Mohammed said that 2,516 farmers had benefited from the distribution of free agricultural inputs and items under the project.
He listed the inputs and items as 1,000 bags of NPK fertiliser, 1,000 litres of agro-chemicals and insecticides, 1,000 units of clean cook stoves and 348 insecticide sprayers.
He added that 160 animal ploughs, 400 hoes and 800 watering cans were also distributed.
Mohammed stressed that the FuWoBa project had empowered hundreds of men and women in the area via the production of cash crops and the planting of economic trees to generate income.
He commended the EU and Oxfam as well as the FuWoBa Project Manager in Katsina State, Dr Chris Udokang, for selecting Sandamu council area as one of the beneficiary local governments of the project in the state.
He, however, called for the extension of the time frame of the project, which was expected to wind up by January 2019.
NAN reports that the FuWoBa project, which was launched in Katsina State in 2014, has planted 5.6 million varieties of assorted trees in Sandamu, Mashi, Daura, Baure, Maiadua, Zango and Dutsi Local Government Areas.