The Kano State government is partnering with Tourba, experts in carbon agriculture, to control greenhouse emissions and enhance agricultural output in the state.
The state‘s commissioner for environment and climate change, Dr Tahir Muhammad, made this known while addressing newsmen at a stakeholder consultation on carbon farming.
“This is an opportunity coming through Tourba on carbon farming in Kano state. It is a vital and innovative solution to agricultural practices.
“Climate change needs no introduction. People can demonstrate how climate change affects them everywhere, even in rural areas.
“This is an opportunity for us as a state to contribute towards climate resilience and, at the same time, to invest in sustainable agricultural practices,” he stated.
He further explained that the state government would involve all stakeholders to ensure that the correct information is provided to the right people through consultations to navigate to a cleaner environment.
He announced that the state government would support the project by providing an enabling environment to ensure its full potential was harnessed.
Speaking on behalf of the Tourba project, the country manager, Okpe Filani, describes stakeholder engagement as necessary to ensure that the farmers engaged by federal, state, and local governments understand the practices to be introduced.
“When communicating with the farmers, we don’t start with the carbon credit as the outcome of what they are getting. We start by telling them their yield will increase if they use such and such. If the yield increases, their profit will also increase.
The carbon credit you get will provide a long-term benefit if you continue the practices. We have agricultural extension workers who will continue to train and retrain the farmers.
The farmers cannot just practice for one year and abandon it; it has to be continued for years, and to ensure this, we continue to train and retrain for many years“, he stated.
He explained that every country they visit has unique qualities and methods, and Nigeria does. „For every community we go to, we have ways to improve the farming practices that exist there,“ he added.
