The federal government has said it is investing in climate-smart agriculture to enhance food production and promote agroforestry and conservation agriculture, amidst challenges posed by climate change and its impacts on food security.
The minister of environment Balarabe Abbas Lawal stated this at a high-level event on ‘Partnering to Scale up Climate Actions in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations – Zooming in on Food Security’ held in Embassy of UAE Rome.
“We are investing in climate-smart agriculture in order to enhance resilience of our food systems as well as promote practices such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture and the use of drought-resistant crop varieties,” the minister stated. He however failed to mention how much Nigeria has invested in financial terms. The aim is to improve food production while conserving our natural resources.
Lawal said Nigeria is taking concerted steps towards addressing climate change and its impacts on food security. Several policy frameworks like the National Climate Change Policy, the revised National Determined Contribution (NDC), National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change and Nigeria’s Climate Change Act 2021, have been adopted by Nigeria in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Nigeria has been engaging with international partners to mobilize resources and expertise against fallouts of climate change. The minister said the partnerships have enabled “us to implement projects that enhance community resilience such as the Great Green Wall initiative which is aimed at combating desertification and restoring degraded lands across the Sahel region. A lot of work is still required in order to tackle these challenges.”
He called on the international community to fulfil their commitments to climate financing, particularly for fragile and conflict-affected states.
Financial support is crucial for implementing adaptation and mitigation strategies, building resilient infrastructure and ensuring that vulnerable communities are not left behind.
The session focused on solutions and good practices for building resilient livelihoods in communities facing the climate crisis and insecurity. The minister outlined Nigeria’s comprehensive approach to addressing these challenges through local, national, and regional initiatives.
The minister emphasized the importance of awareness, capacity building, collaboration, financial support, and technology transfer in leveraging international, regional, and local climate efforts. He also highlighted the challenges of funding, technology, and capacity building, while noting opportunities in renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, and regional cooperation.
The minister called for coordinated involvement of all stakeholders, comprehensive studies to identify conflict causes, and adoption of measures to boost food security and climate adaptation.
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