World Bank Disburses $250,000 Loan to Nasarawa Communities

The World Bank, through Agro Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscape (ACReSAL), on Monday disbursed $250,000 revolving loan to 10 vulnerable communities in Doma and Toto Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State.

The Task Team Leader, ACReSAL and Senior Environmental Specialist World Bank Nigeria Office, Dr. Joy Iganya-Agene, disclosed this during the first batch of the loan disbursement in Dona LGA.

The Task Team Leader of the ACReSAL disclosed that 620 beneficiaries, comprising 367 males and 253 females from the 10 communities of the two LGAs, were to benefit from the $250,000 Workd Bank loan.

According to her, ‘ five communities each from the benefiting LGAs were selected for the gesture’.

She explained that the World Bank was in Nasarawa state to implement one of its core value’s objectives by lifting people out of poverty level and restoring four million hectares of degraded land.

Iganya-Agene, added that the World Bank facilitated ACReSAL revolving loan was a support mission to 620 farmers in the state, adding that the disbursement of the funds if properly utilized for the purpose it was meant for, it would go a long way in assisting the beneficiaries communities to improve their livelihood.

The National Coordinator of the ACReSAL Project, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar, and his Nasarawa State counterpart, Dr. Napoleon Elias, noted that the federal government project which was funded by the World Bank to the tune of 5700 million was aimed at not only tackling environmental challenges in the 19 northern states and the FCT.

However, they maintained that it was to also address poor land use practice and adoption of best strategies towards ecological restoration.

In his welcome address, the Food and Agriculture Organization Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Dominque Koffy Kouacou, explained that FAO was currently working on 350,000 hectres of lands of the AcreSal project.