By Amos Aar
A NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation, Enabling Resilience To Climate Change Related Risks through local CSOs strengthening (ER2CC), has embarked on the planting of economic trees including orange, mango and oil palm trees in Konshisha and Gwer West LGA of Benue State to mitigate the negative effect of climate change and also boost the state’s economy.
Speaking during the flag-off ceremony for Konshisha at Tse-Agberagba, the local government’s headquarters on Friday, project coordinator, Mrs Rachel Mimi Achimba, who also represented the project manager, Mr Emmanuel Egbodo, said ER2CC is currently planting another over three thousand trees across the project communities in Gwer West and Konshisha.
According to her, the communities mapped out in Konshisha for the project include Achoho, Gungul, Amua and Korinya while Gwer West LGA has Naka, Atukpu, Gbabi and Aondona.
The coordinator, who announced that the flag off for Gwer West will take place on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, disclosed that ER2CC has a target of planting twenty thousand (20,000) trees in the 3 years of the project, adding that about three thousand trees were planted last year. She said the project, which is funded by the European Union and Christian Blind Mission, is implemented by Elim CVTC Ega, Ibilla Oju LGA
In his welcome address, the caretaker committee chairman of Konshisha LGA and chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Philip Achuah, represented by the Head of Department (HOD) of Agriculture in Konshisha LGA, Mr Manasseh Hwange, assured the ER2CC team of adequate security and enabling environment in the local government.
On his part, the district head of Mbagben, Chief Terfa Diogo, gave ER2CC the go ahead to operate without fear. He said: “Go and do your work, you will not experience any problem anywhere in Konshisha local government.”
Highlight of the flag-off ceremony was a symbolic presentation of the economic trees to traditional rulers and other stakeholders at the local government secretariat before proceeding to various communities where the saplings were already taken for planting.
