Abuja — The Senate Wednesday began moves to address the lingering threats of desertification and drought in the country as a bill seeking to establish the National Agency for the Great Green Wall in Nigeria scaled second reading. The bill seeks to manage drought, desertification and also spell out control measures. Leading debate on the bill, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, outlined the threats of desertification to Nigeria. "Climate Change is one of the world's most formidable challenges posing serious threats to global stability due to its negative impacts on the physical, biological and social environment. This phenomenon has direct impact on the dry land regions of Africa, causing frequent draughts, acute water shortages and degradation of natural resources' base as well as dislocation of socio-economic stability of the communities in the region. "About 43 per cent of Nigeria's total land area is under the threat of desertification, with the resultant deleterious effect on food security, sustainable livelihoods and social security of the affected communities of over 40 million people. This led to the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) proposed in 2015 by Nigeria and adopted by the African Union in 2007," he said. According to him, the bill will address land degradation and desertification in the Sahara and Sahel regions, enhance food security and help communities to adapt to climate change. He listed 11 countries African countries that are already implementing green wall programme to include Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Others are Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan," he added. Supporting the bill, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) hailed the initiation of the bill as he listed desertification experience in some parts of the country. "We are now faced with drought in the country. There is acute water shortage everywhere in the country. States like Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe were not affected by desertification before now; but they are now in great danger of being affected," he said. Also speaking, Senator Barnabas Gemade (Benue North-east), said: "Countries that fall within the desert have taken it very serious. I believe that by establishing this agency, it would give the government the willpower to address the challenges posed by desertification and drought." In the same vein, Senator Joshua Lidani (Gombe South) said: "Desertification caused farmers to encroach on forest reserves. Because of lack of trees and forests in some places like Zamfara, people now resort to using coal to cook."