No fewer than 500 farmers including women, youths and agriculture experts have met in Kaduna to brainstorm on the challenges of climate change as it affects farming in the North-West geopolitical zone of the country.
The director-general of the Nigerian Agribusiness Group, Dr. Manzo Maigari said the gathering was aimed at boosting farming, especially during dry season to avoid the damages done to crops during flooding.
According to him, the youths, women farmers as well as players in the agriculture business management are brought together with the aim of sensitizing and educating them on challenges of climate change as it affects farmers in Africa.
Maigari, a former commissioner for agriculture and forestry in Kaduna State, spoke in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the two-day workshop on “Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies and Practice In Food Safety Standards and Grades” in Kaduna.
He said the four-year project was funded by Bill Gates Foundation with Nigerian Business Groups as collateral and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture as partner as well as the Kaduna State government.
The former commissioner explained how he lost 500 hectares of rice farm to this year’s flooding, noting if quantified in monetary terms, it stands at N2 billion.
He, however, noted that it has become imperative to engage and involve insurance companies in farming business in order to get compensated in the event of such incidents.
He said, “This is a regional workshop that brings together youths and women farmers and players in Agriculture business management with the aim of sensitising and educating them on the challenges of climate change as it affects farmers today across Africa and even across the world.
“The participants are drawn from across the whole North West. We are looking at 50-500 participants. We are targeting a minimum of 500 participants at this two-day workshop.
“This initiative is 100 per cent funded by Bill Gates Foundation with Nigerian business groups as collateral and with the federal ministry of Agriculture as partner as well as the Kaduna State government. It is a four years’ project.”
Speaking on “Small Scale Climate Smart Crop Production,” Prof. Emeka Daniel Oruonye, said the need to grow more food crops and increase the income of the small-scale farmers has become necessary in order to mitigate poverty and achieve food security has become very important.
“Especially in this pandemic era, stakeholders under the agricultural space must join hands in maximising our numerous endowments to ensure that the desired economic growth is achieved.
“The greatest challenges facing farmers today is how to meet the increasing food demand to meet population growth. Climate volatility, more frequent extreme weather events and temperature changes increasingly threaten the viability of food crop production,” the Professor of Geography from Taraba State University told participants.
