Agriculture
CENTRE for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE) an NGO, on Wednesday held a training for farmers from Asa and Kaiama local government areas of Kwara, on sustainable agricultural methods.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training, titled: “One day Agroecology and Climate Justice Conference”, was themed “Towards Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Practice and Key SDGs in Kwara.’’
Mr Abdulrahman Ayuba, Senior Programme Officer of CCEPE, enlightened the farmers on organic farming and the dangers of using agro-chemicals on their farms.
Ayuba said that agro-chemicals, which had been discovered to be largely responsible for climate change, were also harmful to the body.
He noted that another major challenge to the development of agriculture in Nigeria due to climate change today, was the reduction of arable lands.
“While the sea incursion is reducing the arable land of the coastal plains, the desert encroachment with its associated sand dunes is depriving farmers of their agricultural farmlands and grazing range lands.
“Moreover, the frequent droughts and lesser rains have started shortening the growing season, thereby causing crop failure and food shortage.
“It has been shown that drought, desert encroachment and coastal inundation, have started affecting the country’s ecosystem leading to ecological destabilisation due to climate change impact in the semi-arid region of Northern Nigeria,’’ he said.
Ayuba noted that climate justice involved the rights of communities dependent on natural resources for their livelihood and cultures, to own and manage the same in a sustainable manner.
He said a survey by Actionaid Nigeria, showed that under-resourcing or inefficiency in the climate change policies of local, state and federal governments was leading to severe consequences for the country’s response to climate change.
Earlier in his opening remark, Alhaji Sulaiman Kareem, the Chief Executive Officer for CCEPE said that the training was geared towards community and human development.
According to Kareem, it will help to address challenges facing farmers, particularly women, as it has to do with ecological and climate change.
He urged the farmers to apply the acquired knowledge in their farming activities to mitigate the effects of the identified challenges.
One of the trainees, Mrs Fatima Garba, commended the center for the gesture, describing the training as `an eye-opener’ on organic farming
-NAN
BE
– Jan. 23, 2019 @ 13:45 GMT |
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