Growth Opportunities Well Being

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NAGGW Youth Volunteers Programme 2023

Introduction

The Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI) anchored on a people-centred approach is committed to ensuring a better quality of life for people living in the Sahel-Saharan region of Africa. It is a framework designed to halt drought, desertification, and land degradation-related challenges, enhance ecosystem services and green growth opportunities for food security, and the improvement of livelihoods and capacities of local communities to adapt and build resilience to climate-related disasters.

In Nigeria, the NAGGW programme seeks to foster the establishment of sustainable and resilient production systems to strengthen the economic capacities of the country’s dry land areas on the frontline of the challenges of drought, desertification, and land mdegradation. Resilience building in dryland is essential to strengthening the ability of individuals, households, and communities to withstand and respond to drought and other shocks. The increasing scale and frequency of recurrent climate extremities and disasters call for urgent, integrated, and holistic response approaches that reduce the risk and hazards faced by local communities which are often the most affected. These include innovative actions that accelerate the broader impact that enhance and improve the lives and livelihoods of the communities. This informs why the NAGGW is establishing the Youth Volunteers Programme meant to increase large-scale advocacy and accelerate income-generating activities, especially among the women and youth in the Great Green Wall Frontline communities and the nation at large. The NAGGW Youth Volunteers Programme intends to unlock, harness, and coordinate the vast potentials of the youth in the region into opportunities for achieving holistic nature-based solutions development and realisation of the Great Green Wall vision in Nigeria. The volunteers’ programme will specifically engage youth volunteers who are passionate about land restoration solutions with the potential to transform Nigeria’s drylands into a thriving economic hub. The Agency will facilitate the implementation of the volunteers’ activities with the provision of necessary resources to achieve set targets towards realising the Great Green Wall Initiative and vision while capturing the essence of raising the livelihood index and alleviating poverty in targeted communities. Under the coordination of the National Agency for the Great www.ggwnigeria.gov.ng

Green Wall (NAGGW) the Youth Volunteers will be engaged in different sets of tasks and roles meant to deliver actionable solutions in the Nigerian dryland areas. Objectives

The objectives of the NAGGW Youth Volunteers Programme are to create an amicable networking space for youth in different states and communities to be engaged in raising awareness, sensitization, and assume different responsibilities towards implementation of the vision of GGWI as well as enhance coherence in showcasing the Agency’s activities and impact in the frontline communities. Specific objectives include; i. To create awareness among the young people on the GGWI vision; ii. Promote a positive mindset and perception of a common planet and our civic responsibility to the planet for present and future generations; iii. Engage youth in the frontline states and communities in operational field activities; iv. Engage in income-generating activities that could help in reducing rural-urban migration, youth unemployment, and triggers to social conflicts; v. To educate young people to be aware of the environmental contrasts existing in the state and communities, the local and daily realities of the inhabitants, the living conditions, and the difficulties and advocate for change of attitude towards the environment;

vi. To enhance the capacities of young people interested in volunteering and taking part in the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative through peer-to-peer learning, mentoring, and practical skills to combat desertification, drought, and the impacts of climate change;

vii. To mobilise youths to get involved in the GGWI and to see it as a civic responsibility with the potential to enhance the development and economic well-being of their states and/or communities;

viii. To foster stronger collaboration between the NAGGW with states and local communities.

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Programme Description: Components are:

● Identification of participating volunteers and formation of user groups in the selected eleven (11) frontline states (Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa);

● Orientation of NAGGW Youth Volunteers;

● Capacity building of participating volunteers;

● Formation of volunteers into cluster units;

● Raising and planting of seedlings;

● Sensitization and awareness campaign to mobilize youth volunteers to be involved in tackling desert encroachment;

● Promoting Farmers’ Managed Natural Regeneration to restore and improve agricultural, forested and pasture lands by encouraging the systemic re-growth of existing trees or self-sown seeds;

● Promoting NAGGW alternative livelihood activities to reduce dependency on scarce natural resources, enhance the rural economy and generate employment;

● Advertising NAGGW alternative sources of energy to reduce deforestation and enhance carbon sequestration;

● Promote NAGGW dryland agriculture to strengthen food security and the rural economy;

● Involve the youth volunteers in sand dune fixation to protect agricultural lands and infrastructure;

● monitor and evaluate the volunteers to ensure the sustainability of the program;

● Creation of jobs

Duration: 12 Months (Phase I) Annual (for four years) Estimated Start date: January 2023

Estimated End date: January 2024

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Key Activities

1. Afforestation/Reforestation

2. Alternative Energy Sources

3. Capacity building

4. Jobs and Income Generation

5. Public Enlightenment Campaign

Implementation Strategy

The NAGGW Youth Volunteers will be registered by the Agency with a prerequisite for each volunteer to have a National Identification Number (NIN) and functional phone number which will be filtered by the Youth Volunteers Committee.

The NAGGW desk officer (State Ministry of Environment) with the NAGGW Field Officers will serve as supervisory members with oversight responsibility for the management of the Volunteers, including monitoring their performance to ensure efficient management and transparency when taking attendance for incentives. Collective action, commitment, and excellence are very important provisions for the successful adoption of volunteers after one year. A committee made up of relevant departments in the agency and the NAGGW Youth Champions will develop an implementation plan with timelines and budgets for the DG’s consideration and approval.

The NAGGW Youth volunteer committee shall implement the programme under the direct supervision of the Director General/CEO.

Expected Outcomes

The NAGGW Youth Volunteer programme is expected to yield the following outputs: a. Ecological outputs

● Climate change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction strengthened;

● Sustainable land management and natural resources use improved;

● Number of seedlings raised and planted significantly increased; www.ggwnigeria.gov.ng

● Land degradation and impacts reduced;

● Rate of harvesting trees without replacement reduced;

● Land stabilisation improved

b. Socio-Economic Outputs

● Over 11,000 Volunteers subscribed annually;

● Forced migration and social conflict on arable land reduced;

● Environmental education among young people enhanced;

● Public perception of NAGGW activities enhanced;

● Food security improved;

● Youth Volunteers empowered;

● The number of jobs and income-generating activities increased,

● Public awareness of NAGGW activities improved.

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