The federal government has inaugurated two committee charged with the responsibility of facilitating the implementation of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to address the challenges of soil erosion and land degradation in 11 states of the federation.

The committees inaugurated by the Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia include Federal Steering Committee (FSC) and the Federal Technical Committee(FTC). Both committees would manage the strategic policy direction of the project as well as make decisions on when the additional states become eligible to participate in NEWMAP.

Mr Haruna Taiye, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment said that the project was designed to address the environmental and economic security challenges facing the country.

Taiye said the project has the objective of reducing vulnerability to soil erosion in targeted sub-watershed.

The project has a life span of eight years and would be implemented in over 50 sites in 11 states.

The NEWMAP steering committee is chaired by the environment minister and composed of permanent secretaries, and directors-general from relevant MDAs, while the Federal Technical Committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Environment is composed of relevant directors from key MDAs to provide technical guidance to the Project Management Unit (PMU).