Nigeria Launches SURAGGWA Project to Boost Resilience and Restore Degraded Lands
Abuja - Nigeria – The Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has officially launched the Scaling-Up Resilience in Africa’s Great Green Wall (SURAGGWA) project, a transformative regional initiative funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
The launch was marked by the National Inception Workshop held in Abuja, bringing together key stakeholders to align on implementation strategies and project goals, as structured around three mutually reinforcing components, to scale-up degraded lands, rural income diversification for women and youths and enhanced institutional capacity building.
While declaring the inception workshop open, the Honourable Minister of Environment Mallam Balarabe Abbas Lawal said the project aligns with national leadership focus to achieving national prosperity, food security, and social stability and government’s policy direction, as it also “advances the goals of the Paris Agreement and our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)”.
Represented by the Director General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall Agency (NAGGW) Saleh Abubakar said, “Policy coherence would be deepened, expand opportunities for nature based and climate smart livelihoods and leverage partnerships and mobilize sustainable financing to restore our land, renew our environment, and rebuild the livelihoods of our people”.
Earlier the FAO representative in Nigeria and to ECOWAS Dr. Hussein Gadain noted that Nigeria “stands as the largest beneficiary, with over 1.9 million people expected to benefit from the programme—underscoring the country’s strategic importance in the success of the Great Green Wall initiative”.
“The youth have a critical role to play as the initiative aims to empower young people through skills development, green jobs, and entrepreneurship in restoration and sustainable value chains.” Dr. Gadain said.
Stakeholder Engagement and governance
Participants included representatives from the Federal Ministry of Environment, National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), ACReSAL, academia, research institutes, development partners, NGOs, community-based organizations, and the private sector.
While at the regional level, the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) will host a Programme Steering Committee to provide strategic guidance, in Nigeria, a National Steering Committee will oversee implementation in close collaboration with national institutions and development partners.
Project Components
Three components have been identified, they are: Landscape Restoration for Climate Resilience – Scaling up restoration of degraded lands to enhance ecosystem services and carbon sequestration; Resilient and Low-Emission Value Chains for Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) – Supporting inclusive, climate-resilient value chains to diversify rural incomes and empower women and youth and; Strengthening National and Regional GGW Institutions – Enhancing institutional capacities for planning, coordination, monitoring, and resource mobilization.
More on the SURAGGWA Project
The SURAGGWA project, approved by the GCF Board in July 2025, is a bold response to the pressing challenges of climate change, land degradation, and rural vulnerability across the Sahel. With a total budget of USD 222 million, including a USD 150 million grant from the GCF, the initiative will be implemented over 10 years across eight countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal benefiting approximately 8.7 million people, including over 3 million direct and 5.6 million indirect beneficiaries.
Nigeria, as the largest beneficiary would contribute significantly to the African Union’s ambition to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land and create 10 million jobs under the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative.
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Contacts for more details:
David Karls Tsokar Chukwuka Nwachukwu
Communications Specialist Communication Specialist
FAO Nigeria FAO Nigeria
[email protected] [email protected]
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