By Yemi Olakitan
At a one-day capacity building hosted by the Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet), a group that advocates for efforts to ensure climate justice and sustainable development across all communities in Nigeria, and organized by the network member Kazeem Olubunmi Isolagbenla Foundation (KOI Foundation), farmers expressed tasks Government on the need to prioritize agriculture adaptation through a speech delivered by their leader, Rev. Theophilus Adewuyi.
The purpose of the event was to launch the Global Climate Change Week of Action in the South West Zone.
This year, the Network is hosting this event throughout the six geopolitical zones as part of her Pre-COP28 activities to raise community awareness of the threats posed by climate change and to mobilize efforts to find long-term solutions to the effects of climate change on agricultural production.
During the capacity-building session, Mr. Kolawole Amusat, the Network’s South West Zonal Coordinator, emphasized in his speech the importance of enhancing farmers’ adaptive capacity so they can respond appropriately to the various risks posed by climate change.
“Building farmers’ adaptive capacity to be able to use weather predictions, imbibing the culture of climate-smart agriculture, and proper resource management are the best things we can do for them,” he stated. These will all help them resist the effects of climate change.
Dr. Adeniyi Amusat, an agricultural communicator and researcher at IAR&T, discussed several farming systems that can guarantee farmers’ resilience to climate change in a separate presentation.
He said that in order to guarantee that farmers’ productivity, which is a crucial part of food security, is not jeopardized by the effects of climate change, the training provided to them was the best that can be provided to their group anywhere in the world.
In light of this, he called on all levels of government to prioritize agricultural adaptation as they prepare to attend COP28, which will soon take place in Dubai.
“Agricultural Adaptation and Insurance” is one of the presentations at the capacity-building event that encourages farmers to consider purchasing insurance policies to safeguard their crops in the event of an emergency.
In order to assist farmers in responding to weather information and other concerns pertaining to early warning and early response in agricultural adaptation, the Farmers Early Warning Report (FEWRep) platform was also introduced.
