The Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) and the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), on Wednesday sensitised farmers in Ogun on the importance of climate change to agricultural production.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was in partnership with African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ), Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Oxfam.
Speaking during the one-day agricultural stakeholders workshop in Abeokuta, Mr Oyegade Adeleke, Head, Climate Service Unit , NIMET, said that the training would allow farmers have enough climate change information to be productive.
Adeleke explained that the essence of the training was to provide and interpret climate information so that farmers could use the information appropriately.
He noted that as an agency of government, NIMET was saddled with the responsibility of providing and ensuring the information reached as many people as possible.
The NIMET head of climate service unit disclosed that crop weather calendar had been provided to give farmers timely information about seeds to promote local crops production.
“It contains information about next planting dates based on harvesting period.
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“This tools support farmers on taking appropriate decisions on crops and their sowing period, taking note of the agro -ecological dimension,” he said.
He urged farmers to use climate information as much as possible, adding that it would assist them not only in planting but in harvesting.
In his remarks, Mr Shiro Olaoluwa, Programme Officer for HEDA, noted that the essence of the training was to improve farmers access to climate service.
Olaoluwa said that farmers in Ogun needed to know the importance of climate change on food production, which remains important to food security.
“What we are doing today is to improve the access of farmers to climate service, how does a farmer get information about what the weather is going to be and what the implication will be for him.
“Most of them don’t have climate information, and many will complain that all the farm got burnt,” he said.
One of the participants, Adebisi Moruf , a professor of Seed Science and Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, noted that lack of climate information had affected farmers’ production and productivity.
Moruf stated that there was need for government to intensify efforts in sensitising farmers especially at the local levels on need to have climate information so that they would be able to utilise the information.
