Nigeria’s deforestation crisis has long been a quiet emergency thanks to rising temperatures, soil erosion and flooding.
The country loses an estimated 350,000 to 400,000 hectares of forest land annually; and beyond environmental damage, it has rendered millions susceptible to hunger as climate shocks disrupt agricultural production.
Kwara State is testing a new model by mobilising schools as centres of reforestation and climate education.
Through the food systems transformation pathway agenda, in collaboration with the Agro-Climate Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) programme, the state has provided 14,180 economic tree seedlings to 255 schools across its 16 local governments.
The problem it seeks to address
Tree-planting is not new in Nigeria. Each year, state governments announce mass tree planting campaigns.
But survival rates are still poor. Seedlings are planted and left to mature but abandoned soon after, and without community ownership, many of these efforts never grow into forests.
Kwara’s approach is different. Engaging schools, the initiative also associates environmental responsibility with institutions capable of ensuring long-term survival.
Students and teachers will be more likely to nurture trees that germinate within school compounds compared with ceremonial plantations.
What the solution looks like
The seedlings—cocoa, cashew, oil palm, and orange—were selected not just for their ecological value but for their economic and educational benefits.
The beneficiaries include 80 primary schools, 170 secondary schools, and five tertiary institutions in the state.
Primary and secondary schools will have orchards and tertiary schools can use them as living laboratories where research can be carried out.
In addition to the environmental gains, the trees are expected to provide schools with long-term income opportunities.
Cashew and cocoa, for example, could become sources of revenue to support agricultural clubs or fund small-scale ventures such as poultry or fisheries.
School gardens are also part of the package. Alongside seedlings, schools are receiving tools to establish vegetable plots. These will allow students to gain hands-on agricultural skills while promoting food security and self-reliance.
Why it matters
Trees act as carbon sinks, improve air quality, reduce erosion, and create microclimates that make school compounds cooler and more habitable, but this model’s strength lies in how it brings education, economics, and ecology together.
Teaching students how to plant and care for trees contributes to climate literacy within a generation that will be left to inherit Nigeria’s environmental legacy.
Unlike short-term campaigns, this is an investment in culture change, making sustainability part of everyday life.
Globally, evidence has shown that school-based greening projects have better survival rates compared to general community campaigns.
Kenya and Uganda have seen comparable models generate successful orchards that serve double duty as outdoor classrooms.
Efforts by NGOs in Nigerian states such as Plateau and Kaduna demonstrate that if students take charge of tending trees, survival and care increase significantly.
By integrating seedlings in schools, Kwara is matching these tried strategies but tailoring them to fit within its own reality.
The challenges ahead
However, the initiative is not without hurdles; monitoring remains a weak link in many government projects, which, without follow-up, seedlings risk neglect, especially during school holidays.
Recognising this, Kwara’s education authorities say they will set up committees to inspect schools, while agricultural agencies will be charged with regular monitoring.
Achieving equity of access is another challenge. With only 255 schools selected in this first phase, questions remain about how soon the programme can expand to the state’s more than 1,500 public schools.
Scaling up will require sustained funding, political will, and strong partnerships with local communities, and whether every one of the 14,180 saplings will survive is uncertain, but the project suggests that planting trees can shift from being a mere gesture to an instrument of adaptation, food security, and intergenerational resilience.
Summary not available at this time.
