Nigeria is set to enter into a partnership with United Kingdom’s Zander Corporation to transform agricultural practices and restore degraded lands in the country’s most vulnerable ecological zones.
This is just as Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the federal government remains steadfast in its commitment to afforestation as a key strategy in combating desertification, promoting sustainable land use, and ensuring long-term agricultural productivity.
The Vice President stated this during a meeting with the management of the bio-technology company led by Lord Raymond Benedict Asquith, the 3rd Earl of Oxford, and Asquith OBE, a member of the UK House of Lords at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
As part of the collaboration, Zander Corporation donated £250,000 worth of afforestation technology products to Nigeria.
VP Shettima noted the need to maximise the potential of the five-hectare pilot project, suggesting diversification into vegetable production and tree crops such as cashew, which has a high global demand.
He acknowledged Lord Oxford’s commitment to training Nigerian agronomists in best practices for implementing the technology, adding that “there is an incestuous relationship between ecology and economy in the northern part of this country. This innovative technology by Zander Corporation can be our saving grace.”
In his remarks, Lord Oxford reaffirmed Zander Corporation’s dedication to Nigeria’s agricultural transformation, explaining that the company has been in the country for over 12 years.
He explained that the corporation had recorded successes in desert states such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya, and Southern Spain, where its technology has significantly reduced irrigation costs and established sustainable vegetation in arid soils.
Also speaking, Director-General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Saleh Abubakar, confirmed the agency’s commitment to implementing Zander Corporation’s technology.
Others who spoke at the meeting included the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Dr Idris Muhammad Gobir; representative of the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusinesses and Productivity Enhancement, Dr Kingsley Uzoma, among many others.
