Climate Change: It is clear that despite the acknowledgements of reasons for the heightened climate change and the need for effective interventions, public discourse on climate change remains very low in Nigeria. Where it abounds, it is structured among the scientific community and development experts. Knowledge of climate change issues is significantly low among journalists and opinion leaders who ought to educate the general public and demand action and accountability from decision makers. To this end AMDF will introduce innovative ways of engaging relevant stakeholders to ensure awareness on strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
Visit the THURSDAY CLIMATE CHAT PAGE to read about one of the strategies.
Effect of Climate Change on Food Production: Climate change has negatively affected farming in the region, leading to poor harvest among others. The local farmers, who are mostly subsistence farmers, and produce about 70% of the food consumed in the most part of the country have to adopt locally-developed resilience measures to mitigate the effect on their farming practices. Despite this, they remain poor, malnourished and diseased.
Food Security: AMDF will put in place innovative strategies which farmers in Nigeria will use to gain access to affordable farming information, which will help them improve their productivity. For instance, currently, over 24 million smallholder farmers in northern Nigerian states (comprising of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Taraba) lack the necessary information needed to improve their productivity and grow their enterprises. This is largely due to absence of the usual government’s free agricultural extension services. Also, over the years, insecurity characterised by Boko Haram, banditry, kidnappings, armed robbery and poor road networks have forced farmers to lose earnings and productivity.