National Dialogue: ACReSAL, Stakeholders Champion Women’s Right to Land Ownership for Empowerment and Landscapes Restoration

The National Project Coordinator of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes- (ACReSAL) Project, Mr. Abudulhamid Umar has called on all stakeholders to support women’s right to land ownership.

He called for strong policies and laws to promote women’s right to land.

Mr. Umar made this appeal in Abuja during a One-Day conference on World Desertification and Drought National Dialogue organized by the Federal Ministry of Environment-Department Of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Management in partnership with ACReSAL Project, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

He said the event with the theme “Her Land, Her Right,” which aimed at advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals in commemoration of 2023 World Desertification and Drought Day aligned with the ACReSAL Project Development Objective of increasing the adoption of sustainable landscape management.

According to him, ACReSAL is a multi-sectoral project involving the ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Water Resources to promote a sustainable environment, improve water availability and similarly enhance livelihoods.

Umar explained that the ACReSAL project appreciates the place and position of women and girls in its implementation.

“Statistics have been given to us as far as land ownership in Nigeria is concerned where only 12% of women have access to Land ownership, yet women produce about 65% of the food we eat”, he exclaimed.

Mr. Umar stressed that land is used basically for agricultural purposes, forestry, and other purposes that have economic values and sustainability.

He added that ACReSAL is supporting women with financial systems; Community Revolving Funds (CRF) and Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF), aimed at empowering women because the project implementation model realized that women and girls are largely vulnerable.

He explained that the funds are tailored towards women’s empowerment and economic transformation because ACReSAL implementation cannot be successfully delivered without the participation of women who are directly involved in tilling the ground and building resilience to climate change.

He noted that at the community level, ACReSAL has a matrix and measuring sticks to capture clearly the numbers of women that have benefited from the project and their livelihoods improved, adding that by the strategic importance of the project, women are being promoted, supported, and empowered, he said.

The ACReSAL NPC, who lamented that the traditional and cultural institutions largely impede women’s right to land ownership, called on legal institutions to make and implement laws that promote women’s access as well as ownership of land.

“ACReSAL is reaching out to traditional rulers, and opinions leaders and also working with the media and NGOs for awareness campaigns, advocacy, and sensitization to promote women’s access to, use of, and control over land and other productive resources because it is essential to ensuring their right to equality and to an adequate standard of living,” he said.

In her remarks, the World Bank representative on ACReSAL, Ms. Drita Dade, said recognition of the role of women in land management and restoration and sustainable food production is very critical.

She revealed that the World Bank was happy to be a partner with the federal government of Nigeria to address the challenges of land degradation and desertification through the very large ACReSAL Project that covers 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Nigeria.

“ACReSAL Projects, which is almost a year now under implementation is really going to make the change as regards restoration of degraded lands but through a very different approach, a multi-sectoral approach that addresses dryland management, at the same time tries to build the resilience of communities of women and youth in the areas that land degradation and desertification are really worsened by the impacts of climate and people need to adapt and our policies and approaches will address these issues,” she explained.

In his speech, the Director General of the National Council on Climate Change, Dr. Salisu Dahiru said that the Council will continue to work together and collaborate to ensure that the objective of combating desertification is achieved.

According to him, respecting gender alone is not going to be sufficient, but what will be sufficient is designing programmes that ensure women are given the specific role to be able to own, control, and manage the land for the family, and for the environment.

In his keynote speech, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Yusuf Ibrahim Idris said the theme is aimed at drawing attention to the critical role of gender equality and inclusiveness in tackling land management issues and achieving land degradation neutrality and sustainable livelihoods and welfare of vulnerable groups, especially women.

The Permanent Secretary further lamented that land degradation is currently one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems and it is expected to worsen especially in Nigeria with an increasing population unless remedial action is taken.

Alhaji Idris added that land degradation affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

He said land restoration has been proposed as an important measure to reverse degradation and address the problems it causes, while Gender-responsive actions are central to effective, efficient, and sustainable land-restoration projects and programs, equitable and secure land rights for women and vulnerable groups are critical for successful land restoration.

“We cannot shy away from the fact that women have unequal and limited access to the control of land and that women hold a vital stake in the health of the land, yet they often don’t have control over land. In all parts of the world, women face significant barriers in securing land rights, limiting their ability to thrive and prosper,” he added.

He opined that It is time for women and girls to be at the forefront of global land restoration and drought resilience efforts.

He revealed that Nigeria as a country party to the UNCCD was expected to consider and domesticate decisions of the Conference of the Parties, one of which is responsible land governance and tenure rights that are gender sensitive to enhance livelihoods and well-being of women and the vulnerable groups and encourage inclusive participation of stakeholders in sustainable land management.

“It is therefore pertinent for us to join the global community to revisit and review our land laws and governance and customary rights to address gender inequality in securing land rights and hence encourage and empower women and other vulnerable groups to have access to land, promote inclusiveness and active participation in sustainable land management measures, and land restoration programmes.

“We will not only identify these challenges but we must find ways of addressing them, accurately and timely. Women are agents of change and they are drivers of climate change adaptation as well as sustainable development, he said.