Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has commissioned 33 new tractors and disbursed N380 million cheques to community interest groups to undertake climate-smart agricultural activities in the state under the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) scheme.

Alia, who had already paid N1 billion as counterpart fund for the ACReSAL programme, reaffirmed his administration's commitment to providing the needed support for the programme to continue to thrive in Benue for the overall good of the people of the state.

While he pronounced the immediate creation of ACReSAL as a new agency of government in the state for knowledge and skills transfer, the governor said Benue like many other states in the country shares numerous challenges such as high poverty rate, a fragile environment, conflicts, degradation of natural resources, low agricultural productivity and climate-related risks, adding that addressing these challenges requires collective efforts.

Alia further urged the beneficiaries of the scheme to exercise diligence and prudence in managing the resources, assuring that the 33 tractors commissioned will benefit over 33,000 households in the state annually.

The Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank Nigeria office, who also doubles as the team leader for the ACReSAL project, Dr Joy Iganya Ajene, said the team was in the state to assess, support and look at the bottlenecks of the programme in Benue.

Ajene said their findings showed that the programme has so far recorded great success in the state.