INTERVIEW: How UNCCD, FAO, World Bank back Nigeria’s fight against drought, land degradation —Official

In this interview, Etim William, Director of the Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Management Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment, the factors contributing to the degradation of Nigeria’s rangelands and how desertification, land degradation and drought are worsening farmer-herder conflicts and threatening food security across major agricultural hubs in the country.

Excerpt:

PT: What does your department do?

Mr William: Going by the name of the department — Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Management — our mandate is to combat desertification, address land degradation by restoring degraded lands, and manage drought. Those are the mandates of the department.

PT: In commemoration of World Desertification and Drought Day, what does the ministry hope to achieve? What is the aim and objective of the event?

Mr William: Desertification, drought and land degradation are global menaces. There is hardly any country in the world that does not face land degradation. Desertification and drought also affect many countries. That is why the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), one of the Rio Conventions, was established to address desertification, land degradation, and drought.

Every year, the convention commemorates the fight against desertification and drought on June 17. The event seeks to raise public awareness of the impact of drought, land degradation, and desertification on humans, animals, and the environment. Life on land depends on the health of the land. From the land, we get food and natural resources. We have forests, vegetation, animals and genetic resources. So, if the land is degraded, you lose biodiversity and species, both flora and fauna. You lose ecosystems and genetic resources. Agricultural production will also decline…