Sharp decline in global oil prices in recent years, depletion of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings and consequent economic hardship in the country have compelled the Federal Government to make a move for diversification of the economy with a focus on agriculture and solid minerals development.
The move was targeted at achieving a sustainable economy, job creation, stimulation of economic growth and foreign direct investment in the Nigeria.
Agriculture, in particular, is critical to the nation’s economic resuscitation. Not only is development of the sector crucial to achieving food security but also to boosting the export market.
Sadly, a
major challenge to the actualisation of this long-term objective and
agriculture development is climate change, especially in a developing economy
like Nigeria. Mostly, smallholder farmers who still largely practise rain-fed
agriculture feel the impact of climate change.
The smallholder farmers, mostly residing in rural communities, account for more
than 70 per cent of the total farming population that cultivate less than four
hectares per farmer, but produce up to 90 per cent of the total national crop
output.
Therefore, as signs of climate change become more evident, there is an
imperative to increase the sensitization of farmers to adopt climate smart
agricultural practices. This hinges upon the fact that the impact of climate
change on government’s economic/agriculture policies, particularly the rice
revolution, may be fully understood in rice farming, which requires high volume
of water.
Considering the high demand for rice consumption in Nigeria, it has become
imperative for rice farmers to adopt climate smart practices to withstand the
effect of drought which diminishes productivity. More importantly, this will
aid the Federal Government’s bid to attain the self-sufficiency objective in
local rice production.
Other ways of tackling the challenge of climate change are through the development of a drought-resistant crop varieties and promotion of agricultural irrigation systems.
Aware of the importance of timely weather and climate information in planning in key sectors of the economy that are sensitive to weather, namely agriculture, aviation, infrastructure construction and telecommunication, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), has deemed it fit to forge partnerships with some states of the federation and well-meaning private organisations to provide weather information for socio-economic development.
The agency notes on its website that “in recognition of the need to
significantly reduce the negative impacts of extreme and unusual weather on the
environment and living things, climate scientists are producing science-based
climate information and products that are vital for informed decision-making,
policy formulation and planning both in private and public sectors, especially
for operations that are rainfall and temperature dependent.”
The Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) produced by NiMET is one of its
science-based forecasting of annual weather patterns, in fulfilment of its
mandate of advising government and the public on all aspects of the weather and
climate.
In what has become an established annual practice of the agency, it recently
unveiled its 2019 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction.
At the
unveiling, which held in Abuja, the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator
Abubakar Hadi Sirika, said the SRP was designed to provide relevant information
for planning and execution of projects and programmes in various sectors of the
economy, including agriculture, air transportation, infrastructure
construction, telecommunication and water resources that are sensitive to
weather.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Musa
Bello, enjoined farmers in the FCT and other parts of the country to leverage
the 2019 rainfall prediction made available by NiMET in planning their farming
activities for the year. He noted that it had become “necessary to ensure that
climate smart agricultural practices are promoted.”
Speaking further, Bello also urged other institutions and communities to use the available professional data and information to improve their activities.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director General, NiMET, Prof. Sani Abubakar Mashi, said the agency has been delivering on its mandate since it was established in 2003, adding that its predictions have been consistently and accurately delivered over the period.
Citing
the unfortunate 2012 flood incident that ravaged several states of the
federation, Prof. Mashi said that the agency had been spurred to do more to
improve on the accuracy of the predictions, adding that the predictions by the
agency were being taken more seriously.
There were testimonies from stakeholders such as the Katsina and Kebbi state
governments who explained how the agency information has helped to improve
agricultural and other economic activities in their regions.
The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) Foundation, an independent charitable
organisation incorporated and a key private sector partner of NiMET had in
2017, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the agency to provide
weather information, including the likely dry spell periods and locations of
probable flash flood occurrences to farmers who are mainly dependent on
rain-fed agriculture. The partnership also entails that BATNF will collect
information at the grassroots for the agency.
Expressing
gratitude to NiMET for its services, General Manager, BATN Foundation, Lolade
Johnson-Agiri, described the agency as a very important stakeholder in the
realization of the Foundation’s objectives.
There has been an increased partnership between weather management agency and
its public and private sector stakeholders in agriculture, considering the
critical role that climate change plays in agriculture and economic fortunes.
With global warming on the rise, conscious efforts must be made to
enable ecosystems to adapt naturally through advanced scientific
knowledge.
