YMCA supports communities with 7,500 oil palm seedlings to checkmate climate change in Nasarawa

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By Linus Ogbu, Lafia

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), an NGO, says it has concluded arrangement to distribute 7, 500 oil palm seedlings to support communities in five Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nasarawa State to mitigate impact of climate change.

The Executive Secretary, YMCA Mada Hills, Mr. Ango Adamu disclosed this in Lafia at the end of separate Town Hall interactive meetings held in Kokona, Akwanga and Lafia LGAs on the realities of climate change in the state.

According to Adamu, the initiative is part of community nursery project targeting 1,500 oil palm seedlings in each of the five LGAs in collaboration with Association of Small Scale Agro-producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) in some selected communities.

He stated that the benefiting local government areas include; Kokona, Akwanga, Nassarawa Eggon, Lafia and Obi.

Adamu said YMCA and partners have introduced new approach of dramatising climate change realities to drive home better understanding of the participants, noting that was considered as an effective tool of communication to pass information across in the communities.

“YMCA and ASSAPIN supported by Oxfam felt it is important to continue to mobilise and educate rural communities on climate change realities through new approach – drama presentation to improve their understanding.

“We are using drama to promote social awareness through climate change storytelling by exploring different social practices and perspectives to help break down barriers between different groups and foster great empathy and understanding,” he said.

Also speaking, Joshua Jonathan, National President of ASSAPIN said the interactive meeting aimed at enhancing the capacity of the 150 participants to build resilience against climate change in their communities.

“We are building the capacity of the participants so that they can raise support on their own and also leverage on other supports to build up their communities through tree planting to minimize impact of climate change,” he said.

He charged the participants comprised of farmers, community leaders and women leaders to step down the training to other communities members to participate in tree planting to mitigate impact of climate change.

On their parts, Director of Agriculture, Kokona and Supervisory Councilor of Agriculture, Akwanga, Nancy Abdullahi and Victor Ibrahim who represented Akwanga LGA chairman, Safianu Isa, Aren Koro Kuje, Joseph Namo, while commending the organisers pledged to intensify campaign on trees planting.

Some participants, Very Rev.Yusuf Ngube, Glani Madaki, Esther Rize Tina Namo among others, thanked YMCA, ASSAPIN and Oxfam for the training and promised to utilize the knowledge gained as well as stepping down trees planting campaign in their communities.