Component 1
Agricultural Production
- Natural Resources Planning
- Crop Production
- Livestock and Fisheries Production
- Agro/Farm-forestry and Desertification Control
Yobe State Government · Established 1990
North East Arid Zone Development Programme
To motivate and assist the rural people to improve their standard of living by the proper use and management of their natural resources.
- 9
- LGAs covered
- 18
- Development areas
- 35+
- Years of service
Federal University Gashua
NEAZDP and Federal University Gashua establish a 6km shelterbelt plantation under the Green Code Initiative — every tree coded with its planter, species and ecological value.
Nine LGAs of the NEAZDP mandate area
Tree planting completed across all nine LGAs — schools, clinics, residential quarters and households adopted seedlings for long-term care.
Gashua, Bade LGA
NEAZDP flags off the Malaria Prevention Drive with a large-scale fumigation exercise across the nine LGAs of its operational area.
Gashua
World Environment Day 2026: 2,000 drought-resistant seedlings distributed to Federal University Gashua and Umar Suleiman College of Education.
Geidam
Flag-off of the distribution of food items to vulnerable households and instructional materials to schools across nine LGAs.
Emir's Palace, Gashua
The Programme Manager, Dr. Mulima Idi Mato, pays homage to the Emir of Bade, HRH Alh. Abubakar Umar Suleiman, OFR.
Abuja
NEAZDP visits the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS to discuss achievements, challenges and the way forward.
Nguru LGA
Launch of the 2026 tree planting and plantation rehabilitation exercise — 1,000 assorted drought-resistant seedlings planted.
Amshi, Balle, Bulanguwa & Karasuwa Garun Guna
Antimalarial drugs handed over to Primary Health Care Centres serving rural communities.
Gashua
Trophies, bicycles and awards presented to winners of the NEAZDP/CEPES Inter-Junior Secondary School Quiz Competition.
Abuja
Official visit to the National Agency for the Great Green Wall to deepen collaboration on desertification and land degradation.
Nguru LGA
The Nguru Local Government leg of the 2025 Malaria Prevention Drive — sanitation, sensitisation and mosquito control.
Damaturu
One-day stakeholders' sensitisation workshop on environmental degradation in the Komadugu-Yobe Basin with CEGRE, YSU.
Machina LGA
Tree planting intensified in Machina, combining new plantation sites with the beating-up of established ones.
Desertification control
Shelterbelts, sand dune fixation, nurseries and annual tree planting campaigns.
Village water supply
Tube wells, solar boreholes, cement wells and water quality assessment.
Primary health care
Equipped maternity centres, trained birth attendants and malaria prevention.
Education
Instructional materials, furniture, textbooks and non-formal learning centres.
Vulnerable groups
Food and clothing support for widows, the blind, the disabled and IDP children.
At a glance
Three decades of integrated rural development in the arid north
The North East Arid Zone Development Programme (NEAZDP) was proposed in 1988 and 1989 to promote integrated rural development in the area north of latitude 12 degrees in the then Borno State. The Programme was established in 1990.
With the division of Borno State and the creation of Yobe State in August 1991, the Programme area fell entirely within Yobe State, presently covering 9 of the 17 Local Governments in the northern part of the state.
The European Union and the Federal Government of Nigeria jointly financed the Programme under the 6th European Development Fund of the Lomé III Convention from 1990 to 1996. Following the suspension of EU development aid in 1996, the Federal Government funded capital projects through the National Planning Commission while Yobe State Government paid salaries and overheads. Since the stoppage of federal support in 2006, the Yobe State Government has taken over full financing of NEAZDP.
“To motivate and assist the rural people to improve their standard of living by the proper use and management of their natural resources.”
Broad objective of NEAZDP
Operational Local Governments
- Bade
- Bursari
- Geidam
- Jakusko
- Karasuwa
- Machina
- Nguru
- Yusufari
- Yunusari
Objectives
What the Programme sets out to do
The broad objective is broken down into specific commitments that shape every intervention across the operational area.
- 01 To combat natural and man-induced desertification processes.
- 02 To increase agricultural productivity through improved ecologically and technically appropriate farming techniques.
- 03 To change attitudes to the environment.
- 04 To develop conservation and agricultural extension services.
- 05 To expand the socio-economic infrastructure within the Programme area through community-based initiatives.
- 06 To increase the technical expertise of community, state and Local Government organisations.
- 07 To improve the education and health of the rural population for sustainable development.
Components & departments
How NEAZDP is organised
A central Programme Management Unit supports three major operational components, each with its own specialist units.
Component 2
Village Water Supply
- Construction of tube well water points
- Rehabilitation of water points
- Drilling and installation of solar boreholes
- Drilling and rehabilitation of cement wells
- Water quality assessment
Component 3
Community Development
- Adult, primary and junior secondary education support
- Primary Health Care, TBAs and Village Health Workers
- Women Development — sewing, knitting and quasi ventures
- Instructional materials, textbooks and furniture
Programme Management Unit (PMU)
The central administrative department, headed by the Programme Manager, who leads the entire organisation. The following units operate under the PMU.
- Administrative Unit
- Finance Unit
- Manpower Development and Training
- Engineering Services
- Workshop / Mechanical Services
- Appropriate Technology Unit
- Marketing and Credit Unit
- Guest House, Catering and Club Services
Achievements so far
Measured impact across communities
Health care delivery, water supply, education, agriculture, food security, desertification control and support to vulnerable groups.
- 185
- Village communities with water points
- 117
- Schools supported with materials
- 270
- TBAs & Village Health Workers trained
- 1,800
- Vulnerable persons directly supported
Health Care Delivery
- 18 maternity and health centres equipped with 8HP generating sets, trolleys, delivery beds and ambu bags.
- 270 Traditional Birth Attendants and Village Health Workers trained and provided with practising kits.
- An estimated 15,300 persons reached through these facilities and delivery support services.
Water Supply
- A considerable number of hand pumps and cement wells constructed and rehabilitated.
- 185 village communities benefitted from potable drinking water.
- Between 92,000 and 185,000 inhabitants — plus flora and fauna — served.
Education
- 117 primary, junior secondary and Islamiyya schools supported.
- An estimated 9,360 pupils benefitted from a conducive learning atmosphere, instructional materials, seaters and textbooks.
- Support extended to IDP school children in various learning centres.
Agriculture & Food Security
- Pilot Irrigation Scheme and land reclamation trials demonstrated.
- Trials across millet, sorghum, sesame and cassava to boost production.
- Desertification control through shelterbelts, sand dune fixation and oasis development.
Support to vulnerable groups
1,800 persons — including widows, the blind, the deaf and persons with disabilities — were carefully selected and received food stuff and clothing materials free of charge, with transportation from collection centres to their villages. Each beneficiary received a 100kg bag of millet grain and a bundle of 10 yards of clothing material. Counting five dependants per household, a total of 9,000 persons benefitted.
Newsroom
Stories and updates
Reports from the field on health, environment, education, livelihoods and partnerships.