By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
As the World Bank financed Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project gradually comes to a close in the Nineteen Northern States and FCT, a total of 41 percent local farmers have been taken out of poverty through various interventions while millions of hectares of devastated farmlands have been reclaimed and turned into fertile lands .
The disclosure was made on Monday by the ACReSAL Task Team Lead (TTL), Dr Joy Iganya Agege, during a hybrid additional financing (AF) / Pre-Appraisal Mission held at the Ahmadu Bello International Conference Centre (ICC) in Bauchi.
She said that, “Specifically, you will note that the objective and our goal as a development partner, the World Bank, is to reduce poverty, and we have statistics to show that ACReSAL alone has contributed to the reduction of poverty through increase in income for farmers with about 41%. That is huge.”
According to her,”We hope that with the additional financing, that percentage can grow beyond 50 and more. Now, we are we here in Bauchi for pre-appraisal. Appraisal, as we know, means a lot of things to different people.”
She said, “You can be appraised as a person. That’s judged. You can be evaluated as a project, which is what we are here to do. There’s a design for the additional financing, which is mainly to scale up what we’ve done.”
Iganya Agene stressed that, “Typically, when most projects are going for additional financing, they change the design because it didn’t perform very well. But in the case of ACReSAL, we are not changing design. We are scaling up, meaning, we want to see more work done at the community level.”
The TTL added that,”We want to reach more people than what has happened. We want to reclaim more hectares beyond the over 1 million hectares that have been reclaimed, and this is why we are here. And we hope that through the week, we’ll be able to work together with all of you to have a better template for scaling up impact.”
She commended Bauchi State ACReSAL for excellent performance and implementation of the objectives of the project a development that made the World Bank to have special interest in the State.
The Task-Team Lead of ACReSAL, praised the Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, for his leadership and understanding of donor-funded programmes, and asked the Deputy Governor to convey the project’s appreciation.
According to her, “His Excellency is one of the governors that we appreciate under the project. He is one of the leading governors under ACReSAL who understands donor funding and the required support.”
The Task-Team Lead applauded the presence of Governor Bala Mohammed who was represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Auwal Muhammad Jatau, commissioners, the Chief of Staff, and the Head of Service at the event.
She also thanked all 19 States and the FCT’s Project Coordinators for delivering results on the ground,saying, “You are the boots on the ground. I can attest that you have done well. Otherwise, there would not be any additional finance.”
Iganya Agene noted that ACReSAL is unique for having three Task-Team Leads, which has helped drive delivery, recalling the project launch in Bauchi in May 2023.
She added: “Today in September 2026, I can attest that Bauchi State listened and delivered on the objectives of ACReSAL. Congratulations, Bauchi.”
She said the push for additional financing at mid-term, following a review in Lagos in May/June, reflects strong performance, and challenged Bauchi to do even better under the new funding window.
The TTL stressed that, “ACReSAL is a World Bank programme focused on landscape restoration, climate resilience and improved livelihoods in semi-arid areas. The pre-appraisal mission will review performance and set the groundwork for releasing additional funds to expand interventions.”
Speaking earlier, the National Project Coordinator (NPC), Abdulhamid Umar, stressed that the ACReSAL project has actually performed excellently well across the Nineteen Northern States and FCT as many degraded landscapes have been reclaimed
He added that the ACReSAL project was aimed at mitigating the negative effect of climate change across the Nineteen Northern States and FCT as well as boost agriculture, agricultural crops protection and enhance food security.
The ACReSAL NPC, expressed optimism that at the end of the appraisal, a defining agreement will be reached to attract additional financing from the World Bank with the full backing of the Federal Government which is the borrower.
He described the World Bank-supported Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes project as a “performing project,” a rating that has paved the way for additional financing to scale up activities in 19 northern states and the FCT.
He said that the Federal Project Management Unit chose Bauchi to host the meeting because of the state’s strong performance stressing that the World Bank’s positive assessment triggered the pre-appraisal process for more funding.
“On behalf of the Federal Government, I bring greetings from the Ministers of Environment, Agriculture and Food Security, and Water Resources and Sanitation,” Abdulhamid Umar said.
“Acccording to him, the Federal Government has marked ACReSAL as a performing project, and that is why the World Bank is providing additional funding.
He ranked Bauchi among the best-performing states under the project saying, “Bauchi happens to be one of our best-performing states as far as ACReSAL is concerned. We didn’t find it difficult to come to Bauchi because ACReSAL is actually being implemented and delivering results here.”
He also commended the state government for its hospitality and the governor’s personal commitment to the project since the delegation arrived on Sunday.
Bauchi State Deputy Governor, Rt Hon Auwal Jatau and ACReSAL TTL, Dr Joy Iganya Agene.
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