The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) says it is developing 6,200 hectares of cashew, cocoa and oil palm plantations across four states to boost agricultural production, create rural employment and promote sustainable land use.
NALDA Executive Secretary Cornelius Adebayo disclosed this on Wednesday while addressing delegates at the COP31 Climate Summit in Turkey.
Adebayo’s presentation was made available to reporters in Abuja.
He said the plantations comprise 1,500 hectares of cashew at Ilero-Babaode in Oyo State, another 1,500 hectares at Joga Orile in Ogun State, 2,000 hectares of cocoa at Ifon in Osun State and 1,200 hectares of oil palm at Omotosho in Ondo State.
He said the projects were being implemented under NALDA’s Community-Based Plantation Development Programme, which promotes long-term tree-crop development, restores degraded landscapes and generates additional income for rural communities.
According to him, the plantations would also support carbon sequestration and help position eligible agricultural assets to access emerging climate-finance opportunities.
He said the agency was working to document, measure and verify the projects’ environmental contributions so they could qualify for carbon credits.
“These plantations are significant not only for their contribution to agricultural production and rural livelihoods but also for their environmental benefits.
“They provide opportunities for carbon sequestration, biodiversity enhancement, improved soil conditions and the restoration of productive landscapes,” he said.
Adebayo said the initiative reflected NALDA’s commitment to ensuring agricultural land development contributes to food production, wealth creation, employment and climate-change mitigation.
He said that since COP30, the agency had become more deliberate in ensuring agricultural development went beyond expanding cultivation and increasing food production to include climate-resilient farming systems.
He added that the initiatives aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises food security, economic diversification, rural development and environmental sustainability.
Adebayo also disclosed that NALDA was developing Renewed Hope Mega Farm Estates across three states, covering 20,000 hectares.
He listed the locations as 10,000 hectares in Ekiti State, 5,000 hectares in Kwara State and 5,000 hectares in Bauchi State.
He said the estates were being developed as integrated agricultural production systems, with access roads, irrigation and water infrastructure, storage and processing facilities, farm hostels and other amenities.
According to him, these facilities would help farmers improve productivity and adapt to changing climatic conditions.
The executive secretary said NALDA was also working to secure a Letter of No Objection from the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) to facilitate the registration and commercialisation of eligible carbon credits from its plantation and agroforestry projects.
“This represents an important evolution in NALDA’s approach. We are moving beyond the traditional focus of achieving food sufficiency to deliberately creating agricultural assets that generate multiple streams of value.
“Our objective is to produce food, create wealth, generate employment, support rural economies and, at the same time, contribute meaningfully to climate-change mitigation,” he said.
Adebayo said the agency had planted about 5,000 economic trees in selected locations during the first phase of its Youth Agroforestry and Climate Action Campaign.
He said the second phase had commenced, targeting an additional 56,000 trees, while NALDA aimed to facilitate the planting of one million trees by 2030.
He added that the campaign was linked to the Green Hope Open-Field Horticulture Programme, which supports more than 5,000 women across about 38 locations nationwide.
According to him, the programme enables women to cultivate high-value horticultural crops, access productive land and participate in agricultural value chains.
Adebayo said sustainable agricultural practices could support food production, create livelihoods and help mitigate climate change.
He reaffirmed NALDA’s commitment to expanding climate-smart agricultural practices, strengthening community participation and attracting climate finance, technology and technical expertise through national and international partnerships.
“Our vision is to demonstrate that agricultural land development in Nigeria can be commercially viable, environmentally responsible and socially inclusive,” he said.
