Okomu PPI Compact Implementation Committee Meets to Review MoU - Feb 2023

Okomu PPI Compact Implementation Committee meets in Benin City to Review Draft MoU 

Following the inception of a Compact for management of the Okomu landscape and inauguration of its Implementation Committee (IC), the Committee met on Saturday February 18, 2023 to review a draft MoU developed by IDH for the Compact. The draft MoU captures the vision of the Compact, broad goals to be achieved with timelines and takes into account sustainability of the coalition via fund raising and linkage to SourceUp.

The meeting was attended by top officials of government agencies including the Forestry Commission of Edo State, Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Edo GIS office, and the Ministry of Budget and Planning. Also present were representatives of host communities, the National Park Service, Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation, REDD+ program, Cradle of Life Civilization Initiative (a local NGO), Nigeria Institute for Oil palm Research (NIFOR), Okomu Oil Palm Company, Terra Agric Commodities, 2SCALE program and IDH.  The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the Forestry Commission and supported by IDH NISCOPS Nigeria team led by Chris Okafor. 

Participants discussed extensively, the key elements of the draft MoU and made valuable inputs that addressed the interests, aspirations and contexts of all actors. Notable contributions that should be given visibility in the MoU include:

-          Community participation in natural resource management,

-          Exploring carbon markets, and

-          Strengthening ecotourism goal of the Compact.  

The committee appreciated the visibility given to gender, recognizing the socio-economic role of women and youths in livelihoods of communities, and the interphase between livelihood improvement activities and the forest. 

Finally, the meeting requested IDH to incorporate the inputs and also tasked the Committee Chairman to formally send the MoU to the Office of the Attorney-General of the State to ensure that the document is consistent with state and national laws. The Chairman of the Forestry Commission gave assurance that this would be given priority by the government. The adopted draft will be finalized for signing by Compact members in April, 2023 after the Nigeria general elections.