ActionAid Nigeria has said it was time Nigeria recognised the value of climate-resilient ‘agroecology’ and begin using it as a means of protecting Nigeria’s food systems against the impact of climate change.
Speaking in Abuja on the African Climate Week holding in Accra Ghana from March 18th – 22nd, the Country Director, ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi, noted that Nigeria has experienced more frequent weather extremes in recent years, sometimes seeing droughts one year and floods the next.
“We have all noticed that the climate is changing and that the seasons have been disrupted as a result of global warming.
“Rainy seasons arrive early, or late, or are far shorter than usual. Therefore, we’re calling on the President of Nigeria to recognise the value of agroecology and start promoting it as a real and future-oriented solution to help food systems cope with the impact of climate change.”
She also noted with displeasure that rural communities who depended on farming for food and income were especially vulnerable to climate change.
“Farmers who depend on predictable rainfall patterns are harvesting lower yields or even struggling to grow food. Soils are drying up quickly due to higher temperatures. New invasions of pests are marching through fields. Fodder and pasture for livestock is becoming harder to find. With hot seasons lasting longer, many communities now find that their sources of water are drying up.”
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She recalled that the new terrifying reality, a major scientific report released last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, showed that there was very little doubt that the whole planet was steadily warming, and that Africa was on the front line of climate change.
“The good news is that there are clever strategies available that can help to lessen the harm that extreme weather can wreck on food production and communities.”
Obi said the innovative strategies include training farmers, particularly women, who grow some 70% of Nigeria’s food, and encouraging them to use climate-friendly agroecological farming techniques and hybrid seeds.
The country director insisted that Nigeria needed a national-level mobilisation to ensure that her agriculture, water, infrastructure, her safety and all aspects of her lives are climate-proofed against the further disruptions that are coming.
“One of the most important actions our government could take now would be to develop a National Adaptation Plan, NAP. We need the government to take swift action to bring together the right stakeholders and to develop an effective plan that can protect our country, our citizens and our food systems from climate change.
She called on Nigerian government to take advantage of the Africa Climate Week and announce her commitment to promoting agroecology as a farming adaptation strategy for farming.
“We will be listening, for the opportunity to protect Nigerians from the dangers of climate change is too important to miss.”
