The Climate and Sustainable Development Network of Nigeria (CSDevNet), in partnership with African Focus for Youth Development (AFFYD), says most Nigerians are still ignorant of the destructive effects of climate change.
The groups stated this during a climate literacy training organized for smallholder farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kano.
The training with the theme: “Enhancing Climate Literacy to Strengthen the Adaptive Capacity of Smallholder Farmers and SMEs in Nigeria”, is supported by PACJA, Climate Alaramma Sustainable Development Initiative and Guard Africa.
In a remark, CSDevNet National Coordinator, Mr Steven Abu, said the training was designed to build resilience to climate change and enhance food security.
”It also aims to train SMEs on climate-smart agriculture practices, such as agroforestry and other sustainable farming methods as well as help them to adapt to the impacts of climate change.”
“As we interact daily with people, communities and farmers, we continue to see the existing gap in the knowledge of climate change among these key actors in our society,”. Abu lamented.
He challenged participants to cascade the training to other farmers in their communities.
Climate-resilient communities
Also, the Founder of Climate Alaramma Sustainable Development Initiative and Northwest Zonal Coordinator CSDevNet, Ibrahim Muhammad-Shamsudeen, hoped the training would enhance the capacity of farmers and ensure climate-resilient communities in Nigeria.
“This training is significant as the world is battling with a triple planetary crisis especially on climate change.
”Climate change affects smallholder farmers and SMEs because it is their source of livelihood, so they sometimes experience losses especially post-harvest losses.
“With low productivity, it means we are pushing them towards extreme poverty and food insecurity, which might lead to issues around conflicts and migration,” he said.
Shamsudeen therefore called on the government to implement climate change policies that would support smallholder farmers and SMEs in addressing food insecurity.
“Across Africa, we have the best policies that work towards addressing the climate change crisis, but our deficiency is implementation,” he said.
Danladi Bello, a participant from Yusuf Maitama Sule Federal University of Education Kano, extolled the NGOs for organizing the training.
“I have learnt how to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This knowledge is very useful for local farmers.
“It will help them greatly to understand and assist them in managing their farms,” Bello concluded.
