08 January 2024 – The Country Representative for Propcom+, Dr. Adiya Ode and the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, have agreed to explore collaboration to bring climate-smart agricultural development to the people of Gombe State through the Propcom+ programme. The two parties made this commitment during a meeting at the Gombe State Government Lodge in Abuja on Monday, January 8, 2024.
The meeting was aimed at introducing Propcom+ to the Governor of Gombe State and to hear from the Governor his vision for his state and how the Propcom+ programme can support his vision on agriculture and climate change.
Dr. Adiya introduced the Propcom+ programme to the Governor, highlighting the key areas of focus and the proposed interventions around animal health, climate-smart seed varieties, increasing rice yield through the introduction of labour-saving devices and other innovations to farmers and generally stimulating investments and co-investments in climate-smart agricultural value chains and agro-forestry.
On his part, Governor Yahaya noted that the state has a 10-year development plan (2021 – 2030) which was developed during his first tenure based on a state-wide needs assessment that was conducted shortly after he assumed office in 2019. According to him, the development plan encapsulates his vision for the state beyond his tenure in office and aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Emphasising his administration’s commitment to partner with development organisations, the Governor said some of the focus areas of Propcom+ align with their development agenda, noting that ongoing projects like Gombe Goes Green (3G) where they are planting at least one million trees annually and the Wawa-Zange grazing reserve are some of the ways they have committed to reducing the impact of climate change through environmental restoration.
He further noted that the state is working with the World Bank on similar projects such as Livestock Productivity and Resilience Project (L-PRES) and the Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project and called for synergy with ongoing projects for a more sustainable impact.
The Governor reinforced his commitment to work with the Propcom+ programme while calling for deepened conversations with the Gombe State’s Department of Development Coordination to draw up an action plan for Propcom+’s interventions in Gombe State.
