Nigerian Govt establishes 3km shelter belt plantation in Jigawa

The Federal Government has established a 3km shelter-belt plantation at Mana forest in Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa to tackle desertification in the area.

Sani Garba-Kaugama, the Head of Department of Agriculture, Kaugama Local Government Council, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaugama on Tuesday.

He said the shelter-belt plantation was established to protect the forest under the afforestation programme of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.

“The project involved planting of gum Arabic trees (Acacia Senegalencis) in Mana forest, which was destroyed by desertification.

“These trees were planted in both flanks of the forest, while grasses and shrubs were also planted in the middle.

“Shelter-belt’s ability to regulate wind velocity and control erosion,makes it critical to forest restoration and enhancing grazing activities,” he said.

On flood disaster, Garba-Kaugama called on the Federal and state governments to construct earth dam in the area to protect it from the disaster.

“If the embankment dam is built, it will drain the volume of water flowing from the existing channels in the local government area.

“The same water can be useful in irrigation and grazing activities, especially in the dry season,” he said.

Garba-Kaugama, however, said the invasion of the water channels by typha grass posed a serious challenge to free flow of the water in the channels.

“Typha grass is a huge problem to us here because, aside blocking the drains, it also harbours quelea birds which destroy our crops.

“I am calling on both the Federal and state governments to come to our aid by tackling these problems,” he said.