The African University of Science and Technology (AUST), in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Change and Agro Preciso Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding, as part of efforts to facilitate the training for farmers on how to manage the effects of climate change.
During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding yesterday in Abuja, the president of AUST, Prof. Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, stated that one of the goals of the partnership was to find a way to use the knowledge that is available, particularly within the knowledge centre, to influence farmers and those involved in the agriculture value chain.
He said, “This will help the farmers understand what climate change is, what causes it, and even help identify harmful products that can cause climate change”.
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Speaking further, he said, “this is a way of improving the knowledge of the Nigerian farmers in the area of climate-smart agriculture. In other words, agricultural practices that understand climate change and that is able to adapt.”
He said that another reason for the partnership was to make farmers understand why there is climate change and how they can help tackle it to reduce the effect on their production.
Onwualu said that the partnership will be tailored in a way that they at the academia will be teaching the theories while Agro Preciso will be teaching the practical aspects to the farmers.
When asked how the programme will be funded, the president said, “When the resources are available, the programme will be funded by them but if not, funds will be sourced from donor agencies, developmental agencies like the Bank of Industry, Central Bank of Nigeria.”
He noted that state governments, corporate and private agencies will be approached for funding.
On his part, the managing director of Preciso, Lawal Nurudeen lauded the Centre for climate change and the AUST for their commitment to the programme.
Nurudeen recounted the loss farmers incurred in Lokoja where farmers saw all their rice plants lost due to the flooding that occurred late last year.
He said, “What impacted this drive was our experience in the field. We got our fingers burned and we know where it hurts,” he said
“We know where the farmers are feeling the heat. Just recently we cultivated about 35 acres of rice in Kogi and as I speak we could not harvest even a bowl of rice because of the climate shock. What it means is that what went into that farm has gone down the drain.”
Story was adapted from Leadership.
