Agricultural policies and climate change
Climate change has emerged one of the most challenging environmental issues of the 21st century. As a driver of many kinds of environmental changes, climate change poses risk to fresh water supply, food production and economic development. The massive shrinking of the Lake Chad in the North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria which played a key role in predisposing the people of the zone to enlistment into Boko Haram terror group is a clear example of how far-reaching the consequences of climate change can be. Agriculture has being identified as having huge potential in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. However, the ability of the government to formulate good climate change policies and effectively implement the agricultural sector strategies of the policies are key to the fight against climate change.
One major policy of the Nigerian government in the fight against climate change is the National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change for Nigeria (NASPA-CCN). This strategy envisions a Nigeria in which climate change adaptation is an integrated component of sustainable development, reducing the vulnerability and enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of all economic sectors and of all people particularly women and children to the adverse impacts of climate change, while also capturing the opportunities that arise as a result of climate change. Some of NASPA-CCN strategies for the agricultural sector includes: Increase access to drought-resistant crops and livestock feeds; adopt better soil management practices; provide early warning/meteorological forecasts and related information; increase planting of native vegetation cover and promotion of re-greening efforts. Considering the huge adverse effects of climate change, Nigeria has no other option than to move from business-as-usual model of agriculture to climate-smart agriculture. Capturing the opportunities arising from climate change entails taking full advantage of the employment opportunities arising from climate change in terms of the new and sustainable jobs it will create through use of new and improved ways of doing things. Planting of native vegetation cover and promotion of re-greening efforts will provide employment for those producing nursery bags as well as those on the field who plant and nurture the trees.
Another major government policy with direct bearing on climate change is the National Policy on Environment. The goal of the National Policy on Environment is to ensure environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources for sustainable development. The strategies for the agricultural sector includes: Ensure that mandatory Environmental Impact Assessments is carried out for all major agricultural development projects; encourage and support ecologically appropriate livestock and poultry production; encourage conservation of grazing reserves and enforce strict range resource management programmes; regulate the production, use, storage, transportation, sale and disposal of agricultural chemicals; monitor pesticide and agro chemical residue levels in air, soil, water and document the environmental fate of such chemicals; promote farming, using manures and other soil nutrients. Agro-chemicals, pesticides, inorganic fertilisers are all major contributors to the production of green house gases, hence regulation of their production and usage will go a long way in climate change mitigation and adaptation. If the government can effectively implement these agricultural sector strategies of the National Policy on Environment that have direct bearing on climate change, it would have already done a lot with respect to meeting some of its nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the fight against climate change.
The National Agricultural Resilience Framework (NARF) was mentioned in Nigeria’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) document as a policy which is very important in the fight against climate change. Some of the objectives of NARF includes: Strengthening the overall policy/institutional framework for improved resilience and adaptation to climate variability and change in the agricultural sector; evaluation and introduction into the agricultural sector of risk transfer and risk management strategies like improved seasonal and real-time weather forecast; improving productivity through training community and grass root farmers on land and water management strategies like irrigation farming, water harvesting, erosion control; reinforcing existing social safety nets through support systems that reduce vulnerability and improve livelihood conditions for the vulnerable especially women and children. Efficient implementation of this agricultural resilience framework will give Nigeria the capacity to bear shocks like the 2012 flood disaster that cost Nigeria losses to the tune of billions of Naira.
The Muhammadu Buhari-led government has launched the Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP). The thrust of the APP relevant to climate change includes: boosting public awareness through advertising of importance of climate-smart agriculture. Also institutional linkages and partnerships will be strengthened for ensuring climate smart agricultural governance, legislations and financial mechanisms; environmental impact assessment will be carried out on major agricultural projects; the use of renewable energy will be promoted with the involvement of private sector; broad public and stakeholder awareness on climate smart agriculture will be created;government will facilitate soil map to improve land use and management practices; government will increase the adoption of global best practices on climate change, including the aspects of adaptation, mitigation and carbon credit. Just like all other government policies, the key challenge is not in the drafting of the policy but in the implementation.
• Eke is a programme officer, Environment at Centre for Social Justice, Abuja.
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1 Comments
The people in our federal and state governments do the wrong things and all of us suffer the consequences of this because they lack intellectual or commonsense sensitivity, independent interrogation and intellectualisation of ideas and practices, independent decision, nationalistic and patriotic action. Another reason why they err and we suffer the consequences of their error is that they lack the sense of and commitment to competition with the USA, the European and Asian governments—the first and the European Union primarily—with the aim of excelling and becoming a world leader, in international politics, economic, science, technology and matters of development. Rather than compete with them, they take and use whatever they give, suggest, recommend or advise. They even accept monitoring of their use of what they take and regulation by them.
In order to defend these assertions it is noted that Nigeria has not contributed to the cause of climate change—based on the declared cause of it vis-a-vis Nigeria’s contribution to it—and, therefore, our federal government should form a great and formidable force with the rest of the governments of Africa, including the government of South Africa, although its contribution is greater, to make the countries that are responsible for the cause of it to do what is necessary and recommended in the Kyoto Protocol for its redress. But it is complying with the strategies by the countries for pushing the duty that belongs to them to the developing countries. These include adaptation, sinking sequestration and carbon trade.
The federal governments, National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change for Nigeria (NASPA-CCN) has the implementation of these as its aim, as read in this publication: “government will increase the adoption of global best practices on climate change, including the aspects of adaptation, mitigation and carbon credit”. This makes it a bad policy, being a dependence-deepening and extension, self-harming, self-disadvantaging and self-enslaving policy.
Push the causes of climate change back by making the governments of the countries responsible for them carry out Kyoto Protocol recommendations, NOT adapt, sink or sequestrate them, or accept money for taking them.
We will review and take appropriate action.