Nigeria’s food security is threatened by climate change and stakeholders in the country’s agriculture industry have proposed remedies.
The stakeholders spoke at a two-day 2023 annual national review and planning workshop organised by Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) which was held in Kano, with the theme, “Building resilience food systems in the face of rising food demand and climate change.”
In his speech, the Country Director of Sasakawa in Nigeria, Godwin Atse, said: “Now, we have a very strong strategy that responds to this, we have three pillars of Regenerative Agriculture, Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Market-Sensitive Agriculture.
“In Sasakawa, we are developing programs in agriculture that provide that livelihood for all, including women, youths and even people living with disabilities,”he said. “We are concerned about regenerative agriculture because we are concerned about fewer inputs, but attaining increased yields,”.
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Atse also stated that there was no cause for alarm over projections of potential food shortages in Nigeria as a result of flooding in various areas of the nation. According to him, farmers can employ their most compatible crop to lessen the impact of climate change on food security by developing early warning systems for farmers and promoting seeds that can withstand floods, early maturation, and drought.
Speaking earlier, Sasakawa President, Makoto Kitanaka, said that in the over 30 years of their existence, they are working with over 300,000 farmers spread across the globe and that the theme of this year’s event is timely, as discussions around climate change and food security take centre-stage worldwide.
Also speaking, the Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Yusuf Jibril said Sasakawa is one of the integral collaborators of the state in promoting agriculture.
The two-day yearly conference brought together various agriculture stakeholders with the primary purpose of discussing how to meet food demand while coping with climate change.
Story was adapted from VON.