Climate change |
The
issue of climate change has been a major threat to human existence over the
years. Human existence depends on the
success of agriculture which is the cultivation of crops and rearing of
animals.
Agriculture especially in the
developing countries depends on vagaries of weather which is an element of what
we refer to as the climate change. The
issue of the erratic weather situation portends serous danger for the nation’s
Agriculture if not given the desired attention.
Climate
change can be defined as any significant change in the measures of climate
lasting for an extended period of time.
In other words, this include major changes in temperature,
precipitation, wind patterns among other effects that occur over several
decades or longer.
The
above scenario is what we are presently experiencing in the country and this
has negatively affected agriculture through changes in temperature, rainfall
both in timing and quantity, carbon dioxide emission, solar radiation and also
through the interaction of all these the
elements. The epileptic rainfall and the
sudden increase in temperature portend serious danger for crop production as
key physiological process such as pollination, tasselling of crops may cease
after temperature thresholds are reached.
The livestock species such as cattle, goat, sheep, poultry and other
non-livestock animals such as donkey, horse which provide employment, food,
income and farm energy, transport respectively are also victims of the high
temperature which affects the animal health and reduce their market value
thereby reducing farmer’s income.
The
fishery business is not immuned as heavy rainfall frequently leads to flooding. The
agricultural processing aspect is also not spared as the erratic weather
condition interferes with operations like sun-drying of crops and smoking of fish
etc.
In
Nigeria like other developing world, the role of agricultural sector in the
economy can not be overemphasized as it is a major contributor to the country’s
Gross Domestic Product, source of income for a large proportion of the
population engaged in the sector,
provision of adequate food for the people, supply of raw materials required by
the industrial sector, a major foreign exchange earner through export and
provision of employment opportunities for the teeming population.
Realizing
the importance of agriculture to the national economy, government at all levels embarked on various programmes such as OFN,
Green Revolution , ADP, Agricultural Transformation Agenda to boost food production. Despite all these programmes, food insecurity
is still a threat as majority of
Nigerians have not met the international definition of food security which
state that a society is food secured when all people at all times have enough
food for an active and healthy life. The
scenario in Nigeria is that food is not easily accessible and households have
difficulty securing adequate food.
The
need to improve food situation and the importance of sustainable agriculture
cannot be jettisoned as a country that cannot feed herself is not
truly independent.
There is no doubt that the impact of climate change has
further aggravated the stress already associated with subsistence production,
such as small farm size, land tenure problem, low level of technology, lack of
storage facility etc.
Indirect
effects of climate change on agriculture include the effects on sporadic pests and diseases as witnessed recently in
southwest maize farms that were infected by army worms and ebola tomato case in
the northern part of the country.
Going
by the current concern on the country’s state of agriculture and the effect of climate
change on small scale agricultural productivity coupled with dwindling
resources s from oil, there is an urgent need to embark on climate-smart
agriculture which is a system that sustainably increases productivity and
resilience (adaptation), reduces or remove green house gases (GHG), and support
achievement on food security and other development goals.
The
advocacy on the nexus between agriculture and climate change has to be stepped
up to sensitize and create awareness for all stake holders in the country.
MR AMUSAT IS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT,
INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING, OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY ,
MOOR PLANTATION , IBADAN.
Nigeria agricultural planners and policy makers are not doing enough for smart agriculture,and if aggressive extension services on climate change are not in place for the substitent farmers the dangers could better be imagined. Submissions such as this are wake up call to our agricultural architecture.
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