Nigeria

Stakeholder involvement

Nigeria has established LDN working group and this include the following: (i) Senior government officials who are engaged in policy making and implementation of sustainable land management from the Office of the President on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); (ii) The various Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Forestry, Mining, Transportation, Urban Development, etc., at both State and National levels; (Iii) Specific agencies and departments like the Department of Drought and Desertification, the Federal Department of Forestry, the Climate Change Agency, the Department of Erosion and Flood Control, the Federal Department of Agriculture, the Departments of Land Resources, Power, Works and Housing, and the National Bureau of Statistics and National Planning; (iv) Universities and other research institutions involved in Land Management and Agriculture, etc. v. Major International and Development partners such as UNDP, World Bank, FAO, IFAD, JICA; (vi) The National Assembly, Security agencies, International and Local NGOs were included and leveraged for effective implementation of LDN in Nigeria.
 

A coordinating mechanism/platform

To better coordinate implementation of the LDN targets cross sectors, a coordination mechanism/ platform will be established to further develop comprehensive tools for data collection, analysis as well as reporting. The LDN working group will form teams of facilitators and advisors to the coordinating team. Land restoration is the responsibility of all of us; many players including government, bilateral agencies and countries, UN, private sectors, CSOs and communities. It goes beyond administrative and social boundaries  

Capacity building

The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to implement the UNCCD in relation to LDN in Nigeria are considered. The national focal point and the working group members organize series of capacity building trainings to increase knowledge in landscape restoration, sustainable use of natural resources as well as in monitoring the progress being made to address the weaknesses in order to fully achieve LDN by 2030. 
The capacity building in key national and state institutions related to erosion and watershed management is also on the priority list of training programme in Nigeria. 

Partnership

Implementation of the Land Degradation Neutrality requests for a strong partnership and close collaboration of the relevant stakeholders. The Government of Nigeria will coordinate the partnership through direct engagements of the partners in order to sustainably achieve the LDN targets for the country. The country has already taken bold steps to halt land degradation and desertification, and under AFR100 partnership, the government hopes to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions, Land Degradation Neutrality targets and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of Nigeria. 
The Federal Government of Nigeria appreciates the effort and contribution of the private sector to the development of the country, especially in the area of their social responsibility. Land degradation is a serious and enormous problem that government alone cannot tackle as it affects life, food and livelihood of the people. It is on this note that the Government of Nigeria calls on the private sector and other stakeholder to contribute to the efforts to achieve LDN by 2030.