FG launches youth agroforestry campaign, approves 56,000 trees for Kwara, others

The Federal Government, through the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA, has launched the Youth Agroforestry and Climate Action Campaign in Kwara State, with approval for the planting of an additional 56,000 economic trees across 34 horticulture clusters nationwide.

 

The initiative, implemented under NALDA’s Green Hope Project, followed the completion of the first phase, during which about 5,000 economic trees were planted across four locations, with roughly 400 youths participating as volunteers and climate advocates.

 

Speaking during the tree-planting exercise in Oke-Onigbin, Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State, NALDA’s Special Assistant on Projects, Salman Ibrahim, said the next phase would involve more than 2,000 young people.

 

Ibrahim, who represented the NALDA Executive Secretary, Cornelius Adebayo, said the programme was designed to promote food security, environmental sustainability and youth participation in climate action.

 

“The Executive Secretary has given the approval for us to proceed with another 56,000 trees across the remaining 34 clusters. This phase will also bring more than 2,000 young people into the programme so that they can participate in the planting exercise and take the message of climate action back to their communities,” he said.

 

He explained that NALDA currently operates about 38 Open-Field Horticulture Clusters covering more than 500 hectares nationwide, with each cluster occupying between five and 20 hectares.

 

According to him, the economic trees, including mango, avocado, coconut and fig, would serve as natural perimeter fences around the agricultural clusters while providing additional food and income opportunities.

 

“The trees are not being planted simply for beautification. They will serve as natural perimeter fencing for our horticulture clusters, while also providing food, restoring the environment and creating another source of income for the farmers,” Ibrahim said.

 

He added that NALDA was exploring partnerships with climate institutions to register and verify the trees for possible carbon-credit opportunities.

 

Ibrahim said the youths, known as Green Hope Ambassadors, would also be expected to promote environmental responsibility and sustainable practices within their communities.

 

He disclosed that NALDA was targeting the planting of one million economic trees by 2030.

 

Also speaking, the Senior Assistant Technical to the NALDA Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Owolabi, said the tree-planting campaign was an extension of the authority’s Open-Field Horticulture Programme.

 

He said the initiative was designed not only to increase food production but also to restore vegetation removed during the development of agricultural sites.

 

“We have taken some trees away in the process of developing these agricultural sites, so we also have a responsibility to restore the ecosystem. That is why we decided to plant economic tree crops around the fields,” Owolabi said.

 

He added that the trees would contribute to biodiversity, carbon sequestration and improved environmental conditions, while providing long-term economic benefits to host communities.

 

Owolabi also said NALDA would continue to monitor and support the horticulture clusters after the planting exercises, stressing that the agency would not abandon the farmers after implementing the projects.

 

The campaign follows NALDA’s wider rollout of the Green Hope Project, through which about 700 women from horticulture clusters across several communities in Kwara State have received training in modern agricultural production techniques.

 

With 5,000 trees already planted and another 56,000 approved, NALDA says it is continuing its drive to combine agricultural production with environmental restoration, youth participation and climate resilience.