Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative - ECCAI

16/08/2026

16/08/2026

COMMUNITY WORKSHOP ON PLANTATION MANAGEMENT AT UKPUTE, OJU LGA

Benue ACReSAL conducted a community workshop on plantation management at Ukpute, Oju LGA, on 14th August 2026, with the Zone C Focal NGO, Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative ECCAI, monitoring the implementation of the exercise.

The workshop sensitized community members on the importance of routine management of the Tenera oil palm plantation established by ACReSAL. Participants were trained on regular spot weeding to reduce competition between weeds and young Tenera seedlings for nutrients, water, and other essential resources.

Community members were also sensitized on the need to prune trees with large canopies that may block sunlight from reaching the young seedlings, thereby affecting photosynthesis and healthy growth.

In addition, participants were encouraged to develop and enforce community laws against bush burning to protect the young Tenera plantation from fire outbreaks and ensure its successful establishment.

The activity reaffirmed ACReSAL's commitment to sustainable plantation management, which requires continuous community participation, ownership, and collective responsibility.

ECCAI, as the Zone C Focal NGO, continues to monitor the implementation of ACReSAL's interventions across the zone, ensuring activities align with project standards and deliver lasting impact.

15/08/2026

Community Sensitisation on GBV Prevention, Peacebuilding, Early Warning and Early Response

Benue ACReSAL, through ECCAI, the ACReSAL Focal NGO for Zone C Senatorial District, on Friday, 14 August 2026, conducted a sensitisation to 117 community Members in Ukpute, Oju Local Government Area, on Strengthening Community Collaboration for GBV Prevention, Peacebuilding, Early Warning and Early Response.

The sensitisation, facilitated by the Gender Specialist, focused on gender-based violence GBV, available reporting and referral pathways, and appropriate community responses to GBV cases.

The session also addressed peacebuilding and effective community responses to crisis situations, as well as Early Warning and Early Response EWER, emphasising the importance of identifying emerging risks, timely information sharing, and taking prompt action to prevent conflicts from escalating.

The session was highly interactive, with community members asking questions and sharing contributions on practical ways to prevent GBV, support survivors, promote peaceful coexistence, and build a safer community.

IEC Materials on GBV and Referral Mechanisms in Igede and English Language were distributed to the participants.

The engagement strengthened community awareness and collective responsibility for GBV prevention, effective referral and response, peacebuilding, and early action towards creating a safer and more resilient community.

15/08/2026

ECCAI Specialists Receive ToT on Sack Farming under ACReSAL
As part of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes ACReSAL Project, ECCAI specialists received a Training of Trainers ToT on Sack Farming, facilitated by consultant Mr. Felix Jam.
The training equips the team to cascade the knowledge to 40 women across Ohimini and Obi LGAs, with plans to establish over 800 sacks for cultivating potatoes, ginger, and pepper.
The initiative promotes climate-smart agriculture, food security, and improved livelihoods vulnerable for women, while strengthening community resilience to climate change.

14/08/2026

The Executive Director of Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative ECCAI Mrs. Victoria Esa on the 12th of August, 2026 led the team on an advocacy visit to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency NiMet to strengthen collaboration on climate information, early warning systems, and climate resilience.

The team was received by Mr. Adaji Idris Ayikoye, Chief Meteorological Technologist CMT.

Discussions focused on opportunities for collaboration and the use of reliable weather and climate information to support vulnerable communities and strengthen climate-smart interventions.

ECCAI remains committed to building strategic partnerships for sustainable environmental management and community resilience.

12/08/2026

CRF Implementation Support Mission Visits Communities in Makurdi

The Federal Project Management Unit FPMU, led by Mr. Sule James, FPMU Operations Specialist and Team Lead of the CRF Implementation Support Mission, alongside Ms. Seember Mary Ugbohor, CRF Desk Officer from the State Project Management Unit SPMU, led the SPMU team and the three Focal NGOs; Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative - ECCAI, Community Links and Human Empowerment Initiative, and Good Health Living Environmental Foundation on a monitoring and learning visit to three communities in Makurdi:

Adeke Community
UNJ Community
North Bank Community

The team engaged traditional leaders, Community Revolving Fund CRF Management Committees, and Community Interest Groups CIGs that benefited from CRF loans.

The visit provided an opportunity to understand the challenges affecting loan repayment among some CIGs, while encouraging groups that had successfully completed their repayments.

The team also documented best practices and success stories from CIGs that have fully repaid their loans, with the aim of learning from their experiences and identifying approaches that can encourage other groups to successfully manage and repay their loans.

Traditional leaders, who serve as guarantors to the CIGs, were encouraged to support the repayment process and ensure that the funds are recovered. Timely repayment will allow the revolving fund to continue supporting other community groups and expanding livelihood opportunities.

The Community Revolving Fund CRF is a key component of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes ACReSAL Project, designed to strengthen livelihoods, improve economic opportunities, and promote sustainable community development.

08/08/2026

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COMMUNITY: An ECCAI Community Led Total Sanitation CLTS Training Story for IT Student.

From 5th to 6th August, 2026, the Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative ECCAI facilitated a two-day practical training experience for her interns from the Department of Environmental Sustainability, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi and it was two days of learning, discovery, and real impact.

Day 1 began with a question: How do you get a whole community to change its sanitation habits together?

Day 2 came with the real test: Taking it to the field.

The interns travelled to Adaka Community an outskirt of Makurdi, ready to put what they learnt the previous day into practice. Armed with notebooks, questions, and newfound confidence, they engaged directly with residents observing, listening, and facilitating honest conversations about sanitation practices.

They saw firsthand how communities respond when given the space to reflect on their own realities, and how lasting change begins not with outsiders providing answers, but with communities discovering solutions for themselves.

For ECCAI, moments like these are what capacity-building is all about, equipping the next generation of environmental change-makers with hands-on skills that go beyond the classroom.

Well done to our JSTU-Makurdi interns for a great two days.

08/08/2026

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COMMUNITY: An ECCAI Training Story!

This week, the Environment and Climate Change Amelioration Initiative ECCAI facilitated a two-day practical training experience for her interns from the Department of Environmental Sustainability, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi — and it was two days of learning, discovery, and real impact!

It started with a question: How do you get a whole community to change its sanitation habits — together?

On Wednesday, our interns gathered for an in depth session on Community-Led Total Sanitation CLTS, a powerful approach that puts communities in the driver's seat of their own sanitation journey.

They learned how CLTS moves people from awareness to action — triggering communities to confront issues like open defecation, and guiding them through the stages of mobilization, triggering, action planning, and follow-up.

Tools like sanitation mapping came alive as more than just theory — they became a lens for understanding real community life. Then came Thursday and the real test: taking it to the field.

The interns travelled to Adaka Community, ready to put everything into practice. Armed with notebooks, questions, and newfound confidence, they engaged directly with residents observing, listening, and facilitating honest conversations about sanitation practices.

It wasn't just about identifying problems; it was about sparking that same spirit of collective ownership they'd learned about, right there on the ground.

What they walked away with was more than knowledge, it was experience.

They saw firsthand how communities respond when given the space to reflect on their own realities, and how lasting change begins not with outsiders providing answers, but with communities discovering solutions for themselves.

For ECCAI, moments like these are what capacity-building is all about, equipping the next generation of environmental change-makers with hands-on skills that go beyond the classroom.

Well done to our JSTU-Makurdi interns for a great two days!

08/08/2026

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COMMUNITY: An ECCAI Training Story

08/08/2026

FROM THEORY TO ACTION: CLTS IN ADAKA
Thursday, 6th | Adaka Community

Development learning becomes meaningful when it moves beyond the classroom and meets real people.

As part of our Industrial Training with ECCAI, we visited Adaka Community to put our Community-Led Total Sanitation CLTS training into practice.

We engaged residents, observed sanitation practices and discussed the environmental and health realities within the community.

More importantly, we learned that sustainable sanitation is not sim
ply about providing solutions, it is about community ownership, participation and collective responsibility.
The experience reminded us that development work is about listening, learning and working with communities not just for them.

From classroom knowledge to community action, Adaka gave us a lesson no classroom could fully teach.

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